North American stocks appear poised for a strong opening Friday ahead of a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the introduction by U.S. President Bush of policy proposals to aid mortgage borrowers.

Bernanke is scheduled to speak at 10:00 ET. Investors will be watching closely for any indication that the U.S. central bank is leaning toward a reduction in its federal-funds rate, now standing at 5.25%.

U.S. President Bush will speak an hour later, announcing a plan to allow the U.S. Federal Housing Administration to guarantee loans for delinquent borrowers.

In other economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported before the open that personal income rose at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.5% in July compared to June, while consumption grew by 0.4% month-over-month.

The PCE price index excluding food and energy, year over year, rose 1.9% in July and 1.9% in June. That inflation gauge is favored by the Fed, which prefers it remain within a range of 1% to 2% in annual terms.

Later in the day, the latest University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment is due, as is a reading on Chicago-area manufacturing activity.

Here at home, the Canadian economy posted a second consecutive quarter of strong growth, as real gross domestic product increased 0.8% in the second quarter of 2007, easing from the 1% pace set in the first quarter, Statistics Canada reported.

Economic activity rose 0.2% in June and 0.3% in May after remaining essentially unchanged in April, StatsCan said.

The Canadian dollar opened up 0.43 of a cent at US94.89¢.

In M&A news, Bank of Nova Scotia has agreed to buy a 79% stake in Chile’s Banco del Desarrollo for US$810 million in a bid to expand its current operations in Latin America.

In earnings news, late Thursday Dell reported a 46% profit rise and a 5% revenue gain for the second quarter. The company topped Wall Street estimates on both a revenue and a per-share basis.

In regulatory news, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty repeated his call Thursday for the creation of a national securities regulator in order to improve Canada’s international reputation, especially in the area of enforcement. “A common securities regulator could serve as a single contact for law enforcement agencies because quite frankly, our reputation abroad is not strong and, I’m putting it mildly, it is not strong with respect to securities enforcement,” said Flaherty in a speech to the Canada West Foundation.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 34¢ to US$73.70 a barrel in electronic trading by midday in Europe.

The U.S. bond market will close at 14:00 ET today ahead of the Labour Day holiday. U.S. and Canadian financial markets will be closed on Monday.

Toronto stocks ended lower Thursday, as the market sustained broad but modest losses through almost all sectors, after a big run-up in yesterday’s session.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 45.49, or 0.34%, to 13,444.63. On Wednesday, the senior index gained 222 points.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index dipped 3.46, or 0.13%, to 2,586.00.

In New York, markets closed mixed as investors remained concerned with the extent of the current credit squeeze.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 50.56 points, or 0.38%, to 13,238.73, the Nasdaq composite index ticked ahead 2.14, or 0.08%, to 2,565.30, and the S&P500 fell 6.12, or 0.42%, to 1,457.64.