Toronto stocks are moderately higher Friday, helped by a solid earnings report from General Electric. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index is ahead 22.74 points at 8,443.12, on volume of 96 million shares.

The industrials group is off 0.4% with Ballard Power Systems Inc down $1.84, or 15.61%, to $9.95 a day after the fuel cell developer agreed to restructure its partnership with DaimlerChrysler and Ford Motor Co.

Among today’s gainers, the financial group is ahead 0.67% with shares of Manulife Financial up 40¢ to $52.25. Bank of Montreal has added 20¢ to $53.62.

The gold sub-index is off 0.63% as the price of bullion edged $1 lower to $406.90. Cambior is down lost 3¢ to $4.05. Crystallex International moved 26¢ lower to $3.36, but Wheaton River isthe most active stock in Toronto, moving up 5¢ to $3.84.

Iamgold shares are flat at to $8.48 after its board of directors rejected a takeover bid from Denver’s Golden Star Resources and said it is pursuing other offers.

In economic news, Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate edged up a tenth of a point to 7.3% because of an increase in the number of people looking for work, but about 25,000 full-time jobs were created.

The junior TSX Venture composite index is off 0.64 of a point to 1,574.15.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average is ahead 35.54 points to 10,207.10. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index is up 8.26 points at 1,943.68 while the broader S&P 500 has added 2.73 points at 1,111.84.

The Dow is being helped by bullish results from General Electric. GE’s net income rose 3.4%, as nine of its core businesses saw double-digit growth in earnings. Revenue at the industrial and financial conglomerate climbed 11%. The result was slightly above the company’s May forecast.