North American stock futures pointed to gains Friday, as upbeat earnings and outlooks from Microsoft, Caterpillar and Honeywell International helped the markets shift focus from fears of a U.S. recession.

Software giant Microsoft reported an 81% surge in second-quarter profit and lifted its fiscal-year sales and earnings outlook.

Honeywell’s fourth-quarter net income climbed 18% as the conglomerate continued to post strong sales growth, though it warned of a “softer” global economy in 2008.

Caterpillar said its fourth-quarter net income rose 11% amid strong growth overseas, and it reiterated its outlook for further growth in 2008, even as it said recessionary conditions in the U.S. will persist.

In other earnings news, E*Trade Financial outlined a plan to cut costs by US$360 million this year after reporting a US$1.7 billion quarterly loss.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said the consumer price index slipped to 2.4% in December, from 2.5% in November.

The Canadian dollar opened at US99.35¢ this morning, down marginally after a huge gain of 1.7¢ Thursday.

Gold futures climbed US$12 to US$917.80 an ounce.

Overseas, Asian stocks rallied Friday, with the Nikkei 225 jumping 4.1% in Tokyo and the Hang Seng up 6.7% in Hong Kong.

European markets saw more modest advances, with the French CAC 40 up 1.2%.

Toronto stocks shot up early and closed strongly higher on Thursday, getting a lift from surging commodity prices.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 249.83 points, or 1.97%, at 12,907.23.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed up, gaining 93.38, or 3.83%, to shut down at 2,533.72.

In New York, U.S. stocks yo-yoed wildly today, but finally settled on higher ground after the government unveiled its taxpayer rebate plan.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 108.4 points, or 0.88%, to shut down at 12,378.6.

The S&P 500 rose 13.47 points, or 1.01%, ending at 1,352.07

The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed almost 2%, adding 44.51 points, or 1.92%, to end the session at 2,360.92.