North American stock markets are poised to rise Friday, thanks to a stronger-than-expected outlook from computer chipmaker Intel and lower oil prices.

Intel Corp. tightened its first-quarter sales and gross margin forecasts to the high end of its previous estimates, crediting stronger-than-expected demand for its chips and lower startup costs associated with a new technology.

Crude future prices decline further Friday from their perch near record highs, a shift that analysts expected as traders took profits. Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 35¢ to $53.19 US a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of midmorning in Europe.

In economic news, Statistics Canada said that February’s unemployment rate was 7%, unchanged from January.

In a separate release, the government agency said exports fell and imports rose in January, causing the Canada’s merchandise trade surplus to narrow to $4.0 billion from $5.2 billion in December

Companies exported $35.9 billion worth of merchandise in January, a 1.6% decrease from December, and imported $31.9 billion worth, a 1.9% increase, StatsCan said.

South of the border, the U.S. trade gap hit its second-highest level on record in January. The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services grew 4.5% to $58.27 billion from a revised $55.74 billion in December, the Commerce Department reported Friday

Falling oil prices sent the Toronto Stock Exchange to its second-consecutive triple-digit loss Thursday, but helped boost U.S. markets unnerved by a surprising increase in first-time jobless claims.

At close, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 119.57 points or 1.22% at 9,675.57 after losing 108.2 points Wednesday. The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slid 55.27 points or 2.75% at 1,954.69.

Volume of the S&P/TSX composite was 302.6 million, up from 192 million on Wednesday.

Wall Street’s Dow industrial average shrugged off earlier losses to finish ahead by 45.89 points or 0.42% at 10,851.51, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 1.57 points or 0.08% to 2,059.72 and the S&P 500 edged 2.24 points or 0.19% higher to 1,209.25.

The Canadian dollar continued to rise on American dollar weakness. The C$ was up 0.11 of a cent at US83.06¢ late in the session after running up 0.6 of a cent Wednesday and a full U.S. cent the day before.

As was the case Wednesday, falling oil prices took their toll on Canadian markets as many investors locked in recent gains. Crude oil futures prices fell more than $1 a barrel Thursday, a sell-off that analysts attributed to profit-taking a day after traders tested near-record highs above US$55 a barrel. Light, sweet crude fell $1.23 to settle at US$53.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.