Wall Street stock futures moved lower Friday as investors mulled over the U.S. government’s rescue package for Citigroup Inc.

The U.S. Treasury Department agreed to convert some of its current holdings of preferred Citigroup shares into common stock, a move that could better protect shareholders against future losses.

In U.S. economic news, fourth-quarter gross domestic product was revised sharply lower as the recession deepened.

GDP decreased at a seasonally adjusted 6.2% annual rate October through December, the U.S. Commerce Department said in a new, revised estimate of fourth-quarter GDP. In its original estimate, issued a month ago, the government had reported fourth-quarter 2008 GDP fell 3.8%.

Here at home, Canada’s Q4 GDP report is scheduled to be released on Monday.

In today’s economic news, Canada’s current account balance with the rest of the world was a deficit of $7.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, Statistics Canada said.

Its the first current account deficit since the second quarter of 1999.

Separately, StatsCan said its Industrial Product Price Index declined 0.1% in January compared with December, while the Raw Materials Price Index rose 1.4%. The strong downward movement registered by these two indexes during the previous two months halted in January, with petroleum prices strengthening on world markets.

In today’s earnings news, GMP Capital Trust posted a net loss for the fourth quarter as the financial crisis sweeping the capital markets during 2008 intensified. The fund reported a quarterly net loss of $17.5 million, or 29¢ a unit, compared with net income of $23.8 million, or 38¢ a unit in fourth quarter 2007. GMP also announced its intention to convert to a corporation.

Cascades Inc. reported a fourth-quarter loss of $19 million, reversing a year-ago profit of $12 million.

In employment news, Wal-Mart Canada will close its Sam’s Club stores in southern Ontario next month, affecting 1,200 jobs.

In commodities news, crude for April delivery fell 6¢ to US$44.61 a barrel by midday in Singapore on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped US$2.72 on Thursday to settle at US$45.22.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 ended 1.5% higher in Tokyo, while the FTSE 100 fell 2% in London.

Lloyds Banking Group PLC said profits fell 75% in its Lloyds TSB unit in 2008, while the recently acquired Halifax/Bank of Scotland lost 7.5 billion pounds over the year.

The expanded group, which did not report combined profit figures, said it expected to post a loss for 2009. It also said it was still negotiating with the UK government on terms for insuring questionable assets.

On Thursday, the Toronto Stock Exchange continued its winning streak, finishing up more than 3% as some of Canada’s big banks reported first-quarter results.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 254.52 points, or 3.2%, to finish at 8,186.82.

Financial stocks led the gains, rising 6.2% as several banks unveiled their first-quarter financial results.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 7.84 points, or 0.9%, to close at 862.81.

In New York, U.S. stock markets continued their downward trend as U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a sweeping US$3.6 trillion budget for fiscal 2010, and vowed to cut federal spending by US$2 trillion.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 88.81 points, or 1.2%, to finish at 7,182.08.

The S&P 500 fell 12.07 points, or 1.6%, to close at 752.83.

The Nasdaq composite declined 33.96 points, or 2.4%, to 1,391.47.

IE