Wall Street stock futures pointed to a higher open Friday as investors weigh better-than-expected corporate news from Ford Motor Co.

Ford announced financial results that beat analysts’ expectations. The automaker booked a net loss of US$1.4 billion or 60¢ a share during its first quarter, with adjusted earnings of 75¢ per share.

Analysts predicted the company would lose US$1.23 per share during the quarter.

On today’s economics calendar, manufacturers’ orders for durable goods slid 0.8% last month, the U.S. Commerce Department said, a smaller-than-expected slide. Economists had expected orders fell 1.5% in March.

Later today, Commerce will report on new-home sales in the United States. Economists are expecting to see an increase in sales. The report is due at 10:00 ET.

Also Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is expected to detail the methodology for the “stress tests” that regulators have given to 19 of the largest U.S. financial institutions.

He is expected to outline the Obama administration’s efforts during meetings Friday with finance ministers from the Group of Seven nations, including federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US82.16¢, up 0.45 of a cent from Thursday’s close.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 28¢ to US$49.90 a barrel by noon in European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 1.6%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.3%.

In afternoon trading, the FTSE 100 rose 1.2% in London, Germany’s DAX index rose 1.2%, and France’s CAC-40 rose 1.5%.

On Thursday, a second day of strong gains among energy stocks sent the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange sharply higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 130.35 points, or 1.4%, to close at 9,409.5.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished at 987.94, up 8.82 points, or 0.9%.

In New York, U.S. stock markets also finished with gains despite the release of dismal economic news. New data showed that last week’s unemployment claims rose more than expected, and U.S. home sales dropped a steeper-than-expected 3%.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 70.49 points, or 0.9%, to end at 7,957.06.

The S&P 500 index added 8.37 points, or 1%, to 851.92.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 6.09 points, or 0.4%, to 1,652.21.

IE