Canadian markets were up Friday morning on the strength of energy stocks, while U.S. markets were flat amid renewed worries about inflation and interest rates.

At midday, the S&P/TSX was up 22.99 points or 0.24% to 9,642.25 after losing 20.33 points Thursday.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was up 8.19 points or 0.43% at 1,927.68.

The mood was less sanguine on Wall Street At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was off 17.51 points or 0.16% at 10,736.75 on top of Thursday’s 80.62-point loss.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 2.63 points or 0.13% to 2,058.71 after dropping 26.09 points in the previous session, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.04 2.07 points or 0.17% to 1,200.71.

The Canadian dollar was trading at US81.32¢, down 0.13 of a cent as the U.S. dollar gained strength after a bigger-than-expected jump last month in U.S. producer prices.

On Bay Street, energy stocks led the TSX, climbing 1.16% in the morning session as oil prices climbed. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude for March delivery rose 20¢ to US$47.74 a barrel by late afternoon in Europe, rolling back part of Thursday’s 79¢ decline.

On Wall Street, the greater-than-expected jump in U.S. producer prices, excluding food and energy, stoked inflation and interest-rate worries. Stocks sensitive to interest rate increases such as banks and financial services companies slipped for a third consecutive session.

Trading on Friday could be volatile because of the expiration of February options. However, analysts said in buy programs that are expiration-related were having a stabilizing effect so far.

Overseas, at midday on Friday at the London Stock Exchange, the Financial Times 100-share index is down 3.6 points at 5,053.8.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was off 8.14 points at 4,361.54 while the Paris CAC 40 was up 14.13 points at 4,019.63.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average of 225 issues closed at 11,660.12 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Friday, up 77.40 points, or 0.67%, from Thursday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed at 14,087.87 on Friday up 120.05 points, or 0.9%.