North American stocks look ready to open higher Friday, boosted by deal-making news from General Electric and Cisco Systems as well as an upbeat forecast from tech-bellwether Hewlett-Packard.

GE agreed to sell most of its insurance unit to Swiss Reinsurance in a deal valued at US$6.8 billion. GE also updated its 2005 and 2006 earnings expectations, raised its quarterly dividend 14% and expanded its repurchase plan. GE said expects to record a loss of about US$2.8 billion on the sale.

Cisco announced a deal to acquire cable-television technology concern Scientific-Atlanta for US$43 a share. The deal is valued at about US$6.9 billion.

Hewlett-Packard, which reported earnings after the bell Thursday, said its profit dropped 62% in its fiscal fourth quarter. The computer and printer-maker raised its profit forecast for the current period and fiscal year, a sign that it is skirting the woes afflicting some of its competitors.

In today’s economic new, wholesale sales weakened for the second time in three months, edging down 0.1% in September, Statistics Canada said.

Declines in the household products and machinery sectors were almost entirely offset by a strong increase in the sale of building materials.

Meanwhile, inventories jumped 1.3%, their strongest monthly increase since January 2005, StatsCan said.

Crude-oil prices slipped a cent to US$56.33 a barrel in early trading Friday, a day after falling to their lowest level in five months.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 climbed more than 200 points on Friday to near a five-year high, closing up 1.5% to 14,623.12.

London’s FTSE 100 advanced to a four-year high recently, up 1%, amid gains in the mining sector.

On Thursday, Toronto stocks ticked up slightly, as a falling energy sector largely offset gains in the broader market.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 6.04, or 0.06%, to 10,733.08.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 18.79, up 0.94%, to 2,020.77.

In New York, markets were up on corporate results in the tech sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 45.46 points, or 0.43%, to end at 10,720.22, while the broader S&P500 Index was up 11.59 points, or 0.94%, at 1,242.80.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 32.53 points, or 1.49%, to 2,220.46, its highest close since June 2001.