Canadian stocks were down slightly Friday morning as falling energy shares outweighed rising technology stocks. U.S. markets were headed in the other direction, thanks to an encouraging report from Dell Inc. that sparked big gains in the technology sector.

At midday, the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index was off 6.08 points or 0.7% to 9325.63, a far cry from 115-point tumble Thursday. The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 6.94 or 0,42% to 1630.85.

In New York, the Nasdaq Composite Index rallied 22.97 points or 1.17% to 1986.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 30.82 points or 0.3% to 10220.30, after losing 111 points Thursday, and the S&P 500 was ahead 2.80 points or 0.24% to 1162.16.

The Canadian dollar continued to suffer, falling 0,72 of a cent to US79.19¢, adding to the loss of more than 9/10ths of a cent over the last two sessions. The fall comes as U.S. dollar has gained strength and amid the talk of a federal election in Canada.

On the TSX, energy stocks fell 0.85% as oil prices dropped to a 12-week low on speculation that U.S. inventories will be sufficient to meet refinery demand during the summer driving season. June crude futures were down 44¢ to US$48.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Technology shares, however, got a boost from Dell, the world’s largest maker of PCs, which said revenue growth should pick up in the coming quarter.
The tech group was up 2.08%. The gain was led by Research In Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail device, which was up $1.65 or 1.91% to $88.10, and by Nortel Networks Corp., which added 9¢ or 2.81% to $3.29.

In New York, the rally came despite the University of Michigan report that consumer sentiment eroded for a fifth consecutive month in May, falling to 85.3 from 87.7 in April – its lowest level since March 2003. The decrease was below the consensus forecast of Wall Street economists of 88.2.

On the Nasdaq, Dell stock added $2.22 or 6.06% to US$38.83 while the Dow’s technology components were among the blue chip gauge’s best performers with Hewlett-Packard Co., Microsoft Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. all logging solid gains.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.26%. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.59%, Germany’s DAX index lost 0.26%, and France’s CAC-40 dropped 0.38%.