North American markets are expected to open higher Friday morning, with encouraging economic data on U.S. retail sales and wholesale prices helping to lift investor sentiment.

The U.S. Commerce Department said retail sales surged 1.5% in September, driven by the strongest demand for autos since 2001.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department said said the producer price index for finished goods rose 0.1% in September after slipping 0.1% in August. The core index, which excludes food and energy items, rose 0.3% in September, its biggest increase since June, after slipping 0.1% in August. The numbers were largely in line with Wall Street expectations.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said Canadian manufacturers racked up their ninth successive increase in shipments in August. StatsCan said robust production in the durable goods sector coupled with high industrial prices contributed to a record level of shipments of $50.8 billion, up 0.8% since July.

Crude-oil prices pulled back early Friday, falling 18¢ to US$54.58 a barrel.

High oil prices helped keep Canadian markets in positive territory on Thursday, but joined forces with Eliot Spitzer and General Motors to push U.S. markets to a 100-point loss.

At close, the S&P/TSX was up 16 points or 0.18% at 8,745.64, after being up close to 50 points early in the day; the TSX Venture exchange lost 5.72 points or 0.34% at 1,656.63.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average dipped below the psychologically significant 10,000 level, losing 107.88 points or 1.08% at 9,894.45. The Nasdaq slipped 17.51 points or 0.91% to 1,903.02 and the S&P 500 fell 10.36 points or 0.93% to 1,103.29.

Oil stocks kept the TSX in the black as crude prices roared to fresh record highs to end near US$55 a barrel, as the U.S. government reported another fall in heating fuel stocks ahead of winter.

Financial stocks were also ahead, 0.28%, but were held back by declines by Canadian insurance companies — Manulife Financial and Sun Life Financial were off 1.10% and 3.03%, respectively. They may have been feeling the fallout from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s announcement he is suing insurance broker giant Marsh & McLennan for steering unsuspecting clients to certain insurers in exchange for lucrative payoffs.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks were hit by the triple whammy of Spitzer’s announcement, oil prices and lower-than-expected earnings from General Motors Corp.

Among sharply declining insurance-related shares were Dow component AIG, down almost 11%, or $7.09 at $59.90, while Marsh & McLennan, parent of mutual fund company Putnam Investments, fell 25%, down $11.42 to $34.71.

Five of the top 10 percentage losers in the S&P 500 Index were insurance stocks, and those five stocks accounted for $26 billion in lost market capitalization.

Meanwhile, GM fell 6%, dragging on the Dow, after it posted results at the low end of its own forecast and slashed its earnings outlook for the year, due to slowing growth in China and mounting losses in Europe.