North American stocks are likely to head higher Friday morning after weak July employment reports in Canada and the United States.

News of further stock-option accounting trouble at Apple Computer may weigh on technology shares.

Canada’s jobless rate climbed 0.3 percentage points to 6.4% in July as the country shed 5,500 jobs and more people entered the labour force, Statistics Canada said today.

The job losses were unexpected.

The Canadian dollar opened at US88.524, down 0.32 of a cent.

South of the border, the U.S. Labor Department said July nonfarm payrolls grew 113,000 after climbing 124,000 in June and 100,000 in May.

The U.S. unemployment rate climbed last month to 4.8% — matching the highest level since December 2005 — from 4.6% in June. The data were below Wall Street expectations of a 150,000 payroll increase and a 4.6% unemployment rate.

The report could give U.S. Federal Reserve officials the ammunition they need to keep rates steady next week for the first time since their rate-raising campaign began in June 2004.

Apple said late yesterday that a review of stock-option troubles turned up “additional evidence of irregularities” that will likely cause the computer maker to restate financial results. Apple also said it would delay filing its quarterly results. The computer maker’s shares tumbled 6.6%, or $4.59, to $65 in after-hours trading on the news.

In earnings news, Toyota Motor’s quarterly net profit rose 39% due to strong sales of small cars overseas, a weaker yen and cost-cutting that helped offset higher material costs.

Kinross Gold Corp. said its second-quarter profit rose to a record US$65.6 million, from a year-earlier loss of US$16.4 million, as revenue jumped 45%.


Drugstore chain Jean Coutu Group said its fourth-quarter profit dropped to US$30.3 million from a year-earlier US$46.2 million as it continues to integrate its Eckerd stores in the United States.

Oil prices continued to fall Friday as concerns eased that a tropical storm blowing through the Caribbean could damage oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

Light sweet crude for September delivery dropped 21¢ to settle at US$75.25 a barrel in midmorning Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

European indexes rose in early action, while Asian markets ended mixed.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 28.81 points, or 0.19%, to finish at 15,499.18 points.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 160.62 points, or 0.94%, to 16,887.8.

Toronto stocks closed down Thursday, as a drop in oil and gold prices led to declines in the resource sectors, offsetting a solid day in financials.

The S&P/TSX composite index lost 33.20, or 0.28%, to 11,936.66.

Half of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with the energy sector giving up 1.11%.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index lost 6.93, or 0.26%, to 2,643.51.

In New York, investors set aside concerns over the course of inflation and the economy, and reacted positively to lower oil prices and recent strong corporate earnings news.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 42.66 at 11,242.59. The S&P 500 Index gained 1.72 to 1,280.27 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 13.53 to nearly 2,092.34.