U.S. stock futures tumbled Friday morning after American International Group announced it would raise more capital following a record loss and as crude-oil futures continued to climb.

AIG posted a US$7.8 billion loss and unveiled a plan to raise US$12.5 billion in capital.

In other financial news, Citigroup Inc. said it will aim to reduce its legacy assets by about US$400 billion, to less than US$100 billion from roughly US$500 billion.

Meanwhile, crude oil was at US$125.48 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after going as high as $125.98 overnight.

In today’s economic data, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed more than expected in March as imports of cars and crude oil dropped amid record-high oil prices and a weak economy. The deficit in international trade of goods and services decreased by 5.7% to US$58.21 billion from February’s downwardly revised US$61.71 billion, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said the national jobless rate edged up 0.1 percentage point in April to 6.1%, but this was because more people entered the labour force, while the economy created more than 19,000 jobs.

The Canadian dollar climbed 0.98 of a cent to US99.30¢ at the open.

Gold was up $5.70 to US$887.80 an ounce.

Overseas, most Asians markets closed lower, with the Nikkei 225 Index ending down 2.1% in Tokyo. The FTSE Index slipped 1.2% in London.

Surging commodity stocks sent the Toronto stock market to less than 20 points away from its all time record closing high on Thursday.

The S&P/TSX composite index soared 236.46 points, or 1.65%, to close at 14,607.99, approaching the high of 14,625.76 from late last July.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 34.87 points, or 1.39%, to 2,539.45.

In New York, U.S. stocks rose as a surge in global commodity prices propelled mining and energy shares higher. Technology shares also exerted a major positive influence after a Merrill Lynch strategist said they were a good value.

On the downside, financial issues fell.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 52.43 points, or 0.41%, at 12,866.78. The S&P 500 ended up 5.11 points, or 0.37%, at 1,397.68. The Nasdaq composite index gained 12.75 points, or 0.52%, to close at 2,451.24.