North American markets struggled to end a two-day slump, with golds pushing Bay Street and strong earnings from bellwether General Electric Co. helping keep Wall Street in the black on Friday morning.

At midday, the S&P/TSX was up 16.88 or 0.19% to 9105.86 after sliding 31 points Thursday. The TSX Venture exchange was up 9.54 points or 0.53% at 1799.55. In New York, the Dow Jones had been as high as 27 points but by midday 7.46 points or 0.07% to 10478.93. The Dow fell 68.5 points on Thursday. The Nasdaq was 7.36 points or 0.36% ahead at 2053.24 and the S&P 500 was up 1.18 points or 0.10% to 1176.59.


The Canadian dollar traded up, adding 0.47 of a cent to US81.87¢.

In Toronto, eight of the TSX subgroups were in the black. Golds were leading the way, adding 1.56% as a group even though the spot price for the metal was off 60¢ to US$422.40 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Placer Dome Inc. was among the better performers, advancing 34¢ to $22.34. Wheaton River Minerals was up 5¢ to$3.92 in heavy trading.

Energy stocks were also up 0.40%, but were held back by Suncor Energy Inc., whose shares were down 87¢ to $40.58 in heavy trading. The Calgary-based company said it won’t return to normal production at its fire-damaged oilsands plant in northern Alberta until this summer, a setback that could cost $1 billion in lost revenue.

Elsewhere, Molson Inc. continued to tick up, adding 15¢ to $37.75. Shareholders will vote Jan. 28 whether to merge with Adolph Coors Co.

In New York, the bullish profit outlook from General Electric cheered investors. With its wide range of holdings — from manufacturing to credit service to television and movies — General Electric is one of Wall Street’s bellwethers for the overall economy, and the conglomerate’s 18% jump in earnings and optimistic forecasts helped ease the market’s recent bout of anxiety.

Consumer confidence fell slightly in January, according to a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index. The index fell to 95.8, down from December’s 97.1 reading and less than the 97.5 Wall Street had expeted.

GE remained confident regarding its 2005 earnings. The Dow component, which beat earnings estimates by a penny per share for the quarter, said it expects earnings to grow 10% to 15% this year and will be sustained through 2006 as well. GE climbed 29¢ to US$36.67.

Fellow Dow industrial United Technologies Corp. added 67¢ to US$100.45 after beating Wall Street profit forecasts by 2¢ per share. Earnings at the industrial manufacturer rose 11% for the quarter, and company executives expect earnings to grow by up to 15% in the coming year.

Earnings were generally good in the financial sector, but Wall Street’s reactions were mixed. PNC Financial Services Inc. beat Wall Street estimates by 4¢ per share and KeyCorp surpassed expectations by 8 cents per share after one-time charges. PNC nonetheless tumbled $2.04 to US$52.61, while KeyCorp rose 77¢ to US$32.47.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.41%. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.04%, Germany’s DAX index lost 0.28%, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.09%.