Global indicators are mixed for North American stock markets ahead of a three-day holiday weekend.

U.S. markets will be closed Monday for Presidents’ Day, while the Toronto Stock Exchange will close for Ontario’s first Family Day.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales fell sharply in December due to extended shutdowns at several motor vehicle assembly lines.

“The year 2007 ended with a thud as manufacturing sales dropped 3.4% to $48.6 billion in December, the lowest level in three years,” StatsCan said.

Longer-than-normal shutdowns at several motor vehicle plants were the primary source of the deep cut in sales, the government agency said.

The Canadian dollar opened at US100.4¢ this morning, up 0.42 of a cent from Thursday’s close.

South of the border, the Federal Reserve relesese industrial production figures at 9:15 ET, and the University of Michigan releases consumer confidence data at 10:00 ET.

Light sweet crude oil rose six cents to US$95.52 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In earnings news, Telus today reported fourth quarter 2007 revenue of $2.33 billion, an increase of 3.4% from a year ago.

Electronics company Best Buy Co. lowered its fourth quarter earnings forecast, citing soft U.S. customer traffic in January.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average finished down 0.03%.

In morning trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.21%, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.18% and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.7%.

Shares of Natixis, France’s fourth-largest lender, fell Friday after the bank said it would write down US$1.75 billion because of its exposure to subprime mortgages.

Markets sank Thursday as investors were disheartened by U.S. Federal Reserve chief Bernanke’s glum testimony to the Senate Banking Committee.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index closed down 74.27 points, or 0.56%, at 13,208.03.

The junior S&P/TSX venture composite index closed up 11.70 points, or 0.46%, at 2,573.01.

In New York, Bernanke’s grim economic outlook reversed three days of market gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 175.26 points, or 1.40%, at 2,376.98.

The S&P 500 dropped 18.35 points, or 1.34%, to end at 1,348.86.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed down 41.39 points, or 1.74%, at 2,332.54.