The outlook for North American markets is mixed Friday as metals and oil futures prices tumbled and the U.S. dollar continued to gain ground against other currencies.

The prices of many commodities have come under increasing pressure as the outlook for world economic growth has darkened.

A report issued Thursday showed that economic activity had contracted for the first time since the early 1990s in the 15 countries that use the euro in the second quarter. There is also emerging evidence of sluggishness in growth in Asia.

Oil futures dropped $1.95 to $113.06 a barrel. Gold dropped below the key US$800 an ounce level on Friday.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US93.68¢, down 0.37 of a cent from Thursday’s close.

In other economic news, manufacturing sales in current dollars rose 2.1% in June. Adjusting for price changes, manufacturing sales rose 0.6%, Statistics Canada said today.

Separately, StatsCan reported that motor vehicle dealerships sold 143,270 new vehicles in June, down 1% from May.

New home construction will begin to slow in 2008, but will remain high by historical standards, according to a report released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Higher mortgage carrying costs will be a catalyst for the decrease in residential construction to 215,475 units in 2008, from 228,343 in 2007, CMHC said. As a result, seven of the 10 provinces will register a lower number of housing starts in 2008 than in 2007.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.48%. In midday trading, the UK’s FTSE 100 fell 0.42%, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.18%, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.51%.

On Thursday, the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange posted a small loss as higher bank stocks offset declines in energy and mining shares.

Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index slipped 18.31 points to 13,358.91.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 5.71 points to 1,991.18.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average finished the session up 82.97 points at 11,615.93.

The Nasdaq composite index moved up 25.05 points to 2,453.67, while the S&P 500 index gained 7.1 points to 1,292.93.