Wall Street stock futures were mostly higher on Friday, as General Electric and Citigroup both beat analyst estimates on their first-quarter results.

Here at home, Canadian investors digested news that Royal Bank of Canada expects to record a goodwill impairment charge of approximately US$850 million for the second quarter ending April 30.

Before the announcement Thursday evening, Royal Bank shares close up $1.22 at $42.35.

In today’s economic news, consumer prices rose 1.2% in the 12 months to March 2009, down from the 1.4% increase in February, Statistics Canada said.

After the announcement, the Canadian dollar slipped to US82.58¢, down from US82.67¢ at Thursday’s close.

In today’s earnings news, U.S. bank Citigroup posted its first profit in 18 months amid surging results from operations that include its investment-banking business.

General Electric said first-quarter net income fell 35% on continued woes at its financial operations.

On today’s U.S. economic calendar, the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence gauge for April is due. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is also scheduled to give a speech.
In commodities news, oil prices lingered below US$50 a barrel. Benchmark crude for May delivery fell 35¢ to US$49.63 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In Asia, stocks closed mostly higher with the Nikkei 225 rising 1.7% in Tokyo and the Hang Seng edging up 0.1%.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.8% in London.

On Thursday, Gains in energy and financial stocks buoyed the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 97.26 points or 1.1%, to 9,343,37.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index dipped 5.81 points, or 0.59%, to finish at 982.13.

In New York, U.S. stocks rallied results from Google and J.P. Morgan stoked investor optimism.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 95.81 points, or 1.19%, to 8,125.43. The S&P 500 gained 13.24 points, or 1.55%, to 865.30. The Nasdaq composite index surged 43.64 points, or 2.68%, to 1,670.44.

Google shares climbed 2.4% ahead of the tech-bellwether reporting a stronger-than-expected first-quarter profit.

IE