U.S. stock-market futures pointed to a third straight session of losses Friday as investors waited for news of a bailout for the auto industry, while here at home Canadian investors are mulling over mixed signals on inflation.

Canada’s inflation rate tumbled to 2% in November from 2.6% in October, Statistics Canada said Friday, but the Bank of Canada’s core inflation rate jumped to 2.4% last month from 1.7% in October.

The Canadian dollar opened more than a cent lower on Friday at US81.51¢, down 1.37¢ from Thursday’s close, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the federal deficit could climb as high as $30 billion.

A federal economic stimulus package will likely lead to a deficit in the $20 billion to $30 billion range for the 2009-10 fiscal year, Harper told CTV News in a year-end interview on Thursday.

South of the border, U.S. P resident George W. Bush will make an announcement at 9:00 ET regarding the his administration’s efforts to assist the troubled auto industry.

In earnings news, software giant Oracle issued a brighter forecast than Wall Street expected, while tech-bellwether Research In Motion surprised investors with a better-than-expected forecast for the current quarter.

In commodities news, light, sweet crude for January delivery fell US$2.67 to $33.55 a barrel.

Overseas, markets overseas were mostly lower.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average slipped 0.91%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sank 2.39%. In late morning trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 1.81%, Germany’s DAX index fell 1.14%, and France’s CAC-40 fell 1.45%.

A plunge in energy stocks led a broad-based sell-off in Canadian equities on Thursday that saw the benchmark index shed nearly 300 points.

The S&P/TSX composite index plummeted 298.76 points, or 3.4%, to 8,425.35.

The index had opened at 8,596.67, down 127.44 points from Tuesday’s close, following technical problems that halted trading during Wednesday’s session.


The S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 23 points, or 3.2%, to end the day at 700.45.

A drop in energy stocks also led declines for American stock markets on Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 219.35 points, or 2.5%, to finish at 8,604.99.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 26.94 points, or 1.7%, to 1,552.37.

The S&P 500 index dipped 19.14 points, or 2.1%, to close at 885.28.

IE