Wall Street stocks futures suggested a higher open Friday while Canadian investors digested a weaker-than-expected report on retail sales.

Retail sales fell by 0.8% in April, offsetting in part three consecutive increases, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The larger-than-expected drop surprised Bay Street economist who had forecast a fall of just 0.1% from the previous month.

In earnings news, after markets closed on Thursday, Research In Motion Ltd. announced that earnings for its first fiscal quarter ended May 30 jumped 33% to $643 million, thanks to strong sales of BlackBerry smartphones. But the firm also gave an outlook that fell short of some expectations.

In commodities news, oil prices rose to near US$72 a barrel in Asia on Friday amid concerns that stimulus spending will spark inflation. Benchmark crude for July delivery rose 50¢ to $71.87 a barrel by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average added 82.54 points, or 0.9%, to 9,786.26, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 144.27, or 0.8%, to 17,920.93.

In Europe, the UK’s FTSE 100 index owas up 83.29 points, or 2%, at 4,364.15 while Germany’s DAX advanced 21.13 points, or 0.4%, at 4,858.61. France’s CAC-40 index was 33.76 points, or 1.1%, at 3,227.82.

On Thursday, the Toronto Stock Exchange finished with gains for the first time in five sessions, carried higher by financial stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index added 55.39 points, or 0.6%, to close at 10,121.50.

The financials group gained 1.9% during the session.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped lower by 1.06 points, or 0.1%, to close at 1,114.31.

In New York, U.S. stocks advanced on data showing that the number of people drawing unemployment benefits fell for the first time since early January. Total unemployment insurance rolls fell last week by 148,000 to 6.76 million.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 58.42 points, or 0.7%, at 8,555.60.

The S&P 500 index gained 7.66 points, or 0.8%, to 918.37.

The Nasdaq composite index was flat at 1,807.72.

In earnings news, after markets closed on Thursday, Research In Motion Ltd. announced that earnings for its first fiscal quarter ended May 30 jumped 33% to $643 million, thanks to strong sales of BlackBerry smartphones.

IE