U.S. stock futures fell Friday after the previous session’s massive gains, amid corporate losses and grim economic news as world leaders meet in Washington to discuss a way out of the global financial crisis.

In today’s economic news, the 15 countries that use the euro as currency have entered a recession. The European Union reported Friday that its latest figures show the economy in its 15 member countries shrank 0.2% for two quarters in a row.

In the United States, retail sales tumbled 2.8% in October, posting a record dive as consumers cut back spending on a wide variety of goods ranging from cars to furniture to electronics.

Here at home, manufacturing sales remained virtually unchanged in September after a notable decrease in August, Statistics Canada said.

Separately, the statistical agency reported that dealerships sold 141,574 new motor vehicles in September, up 2.5% from August. It was the first increase following three months of declines.

The Canadian dollar opened at US82.07¢, down 0.47 cent.

In today’s earnings news, Canwest Global Communications Corp. reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.02 billion due to a $1.01 billion writedown on its Canadian television operations, reversing a year-earlier profit of $197 million.

U.S. mortgage financier Freddie Mac reported a wider net loss in the third quarter on surging investment and credit losses.

In international banking news, Citigroup Inc. is cutting at least 10,000 jobs at its investment bank and other areas, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

In commodities news, light sweet crude oil for December delivery is little changed on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 11¢ at US$58.35 a barrel. Gold is up US$29.80 at US$734.80 an ounce.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed up 2.7% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng gained 2.4%.

The FTSE 100 index is up 3.6% early in the afternoon in London. Germany’s DAX is also up 3.6%, while the Paris CAC-40 added 2.3%.

On Thursday, Toronto stocks soared at the close led by strength in energy and materials issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 430.21 points, or 4.8%, to end at 9352.78. Earlier in the session, the index touched a low of 8,572.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 8.91 points, or 1.08%, at 813.59.

In New York, U.S. stocks rallied with the major indices ending up over 6% as bargain hunters rushed to scoop up beaten-down shares after the Dow broke below the 8,000 mark earlier in the day.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 552.59 points, or 6.67%, to end at 8,835.25. The S&P 500 Index shot up 58.99 points, or 6.92%, to finish at 911.29. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index surged 97.49 points, or 6.50%, to close at 1,596.70.

Thursday close: North American markets soar on bargain hunting