North American markets look set to open higher Friday, boosted by better-than-expected earnings from General Electric.

Early Friday, GE said its net income rose 18% in the fourth quarter, reflecting double-digit earnings growth in nine of its 11 businesses.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada said wholesale sales grew for a second consecutive month in November.

November sales inched up 0.5%, recovering a little more of the ground lost in September.

StatsCan said that inventories rose sharply — up 0.9% — for a third consecutive month.

There are no major economic releases from the United States today.

On Thursday, Energy and financial stocks, with help from tech shares, lead Canadian markets lower, while disappointing earnings in the tech sector did in U.S. markets.

At close, the S&P/TSX composite index was off 31.37 points or 0.34% to 9,088.98, while the S&P/TSX venture composite index dipped 3.72 points or 0.21% to 1,790.01.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 68.50 points or 0.65% to 1,0471.47, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 27.71 points or 1.34% to 2,045.88 and the S&P 500 slipped 9.22 points or 0.78% to 1,175.41.

The Canadian dollar lost ground as the U.S. dollar strengthened. It was down 0.42 of a cent to US81.11¢ late n the session as manufacturing shipments rose a modest 0.2% in November to $50 billion. The US$, meanwhile, hit a two-month high against the euro on Thursday, buoyed by expectations for higher U.S. interest rates.