Wall Street stock futures were steady on Monday amid a round of mixed earnings reports.

In today’s earnings news, RadioShack Corp. reported its second-quarter earnings rose as it cut costs. The electronic retailer beat analysts’ forecasts.

However, U.S. health insurer Aetna posted a 28% drop in its quarterly earnings cutting its earnings outlook for the second time in two months.

Verizon Communications reported a smaller-than-expected 7% decline in earnings.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US$92.50¢, up 0.16 of a cent from Friday’s close. The loonie advanced by nearly a third of a cent against the U.S. greenback on Friday.

In today’s commodities news, light, sweet crude for September delivery was up 51¢ to US$68.56 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 1.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.4%.

In Europe, the UK’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3%, Germany’s DAX index was up 1.1%, and France’s CAC-40 was up 1.2%.

On Friday, strength in financial stocks helped the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange recover from earlier losses to finish in positive territory on Friday.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 12.22 points, or 0.1%, to close at 10,687.90. For the week, the benchmark index gained about 3%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture index finished higher on Friday, gaining 5.63 points, or 0.5%, to close at 1,143.42.

In New York, U.S. stocks finished mixed on Friday, but ended the week with substantial gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 23.95 points, or 0.3%, at 9,093.24 points, up 4% for the week.

The S&P 500 index gained 2.97 points, or 0.3%, to close at 979.26 points, registering a 4.1% gain for the week.

The Nasdaq composite ended its winning streak, falling 7.64 points, or 0.4%, to close at 1,965.96 points. For the week, it gained 4.2%.

IE