Friday will be another quiet day on North American equity markets. U.S. investors are celebrating an extended Thanksgiving holiday with the stock and bond markets closing at midday.

There’s little reason to celebrate in Canada today with the announcement from Statistics Canada that real gross domestic product edged up a mere 0.3% in the third quarter after a slight dip in the second quarter. Consumer spending and business fixed capital investment were the main sources of strength, boosting final domestic demand to a robust 1.4% gain. The main sources of weakness came from exports and business non-farm inventories .

The most shocking part of the report was the comparison of Canada’s economy with that of the U.S. On an annualized basis, real GDP grew 1.1% in Canada in the third quarter vs a gain of 8.2% in the U.S. That marks a shift in economic fortune for Canada compared with the U.S., which economists are blaming on the effect of a stronger Canadian dollar on our exports.

With no American economic data due today, the poor Canadian GDP report, and weak Wall Street futures, stocks are expected to decline at the open.

In Asia, during their Friday trading, the Nikkei Average fell 62.81 points, or 0.6%, to 10,100.57. The sell-off in Tokyo was triggered by a report in a financial newspaper that the Ashikaga Financial Group, a troubled regional lender, had a negative net worth last fiscal year. The Hang Seng Index ended up 241.48 points, or 2%, at 12,317.47.

In Europe at midday, London’s FTSE100 is down 0.29% to 4,348.4 points. The Paris CAC40 is down 0.47% to 3,425.29. The Frankfurt DAX is down 0.62% to 3,721.45

On Thursday, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite stock index climbed 20.11 points to 7,880.5. The metals and mining sector led the way, rising almost 0.75%, with Inco up 50¢ to $43.65 and Noranda ahead 21¢ at $16.79. The big earnings story came from Hudson’s Bay Co., which rose 10¢ to $11.10 after reporting higher profits for its third quarter.

The U.S. dollar weakened against most major currencies Friday, hitting a new low against the euro and pushing the Canadian dollar to a new 10-year high.

The loonie was up 0.61¢ to US77.10¢ at 9:40 ET. It went as high as US77.21¢ before slipping back after weak third-quarter Canadian GDP figures were released.