U.S. stock futures moved lower Friday after oil prices rose above US$142 a barrel on Friday as investors continued to pour into commodities.

The price of light, sweet crude for August delivery hit a peak of US$142.26 in early trading before giving back some ground to trade at US$141.27, up US$1.63 from Thursday’s close.

Oil shot up more than US$5 a barrel Thursday after OPEC’s president suggested that crude could top US$150 a barrel this year.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said a substantial increase in petroleum prices May, drove up the indices for manufactured goods and raw materials prices. However, if energy products were excluded, the price movement for both those indexes would have been negative.

From April to May, prices charged by manufacturers, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index, rose 0.6%, down from the 1.6% increase in April, StatsCan said.

The Raw Materials Price Index continued its upward trend, but the 3.1% increase in May was the second consecutive month of deceleration, compared with the increases of 5.0% in April and 6.7% in March.

he Canadian dollar was at US99.42¢ Friday, up 0.71 cent from the previous day’s close.

South of the border, consumer spending surged in May, fed by mounting inflation and the round of income-tax rebates aimed at stimulating the U.S. economy.

Personal consumption increased by 0.8% compared to the month before, the U.S. Commerce Department said today. That was the biggest gain since 1.0% in November 2007.

Personal income increased at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.9% compared to the month before. That was the largest gain since 3.2% in September 2005.

Economists had forecast a 0.4% increase in personal income and a 0.7% climb in consumer consumption.

Today’s U.S. data calendar also features a final reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence for June.

In today’s earnings news, Lehman Brothers analysts estimated that Merrill Lynch will post a writedown of US$5.4 billion during the second quarter, due mainly to the effect of the recent credit downgrades of monoline insurers.

Overseas, Asian indices dropped across the board, with Shanghai’s main index tumbling 5.3%, amid the weakening dollar, surging oil prices and a plunge in banking stocks.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average closed down 277.97 points at 13,544.36.

European shares were mostly lower, with fears about oil, financial-sector health and the dollar also exacting a toll.

London’s FTSE 100 index was off 0.3% in early-afternoon trading, and declines were steeper on continental bourses, with the German DAX down 1.2% and the Paris CAC-40 losing 1%.

On Thursday, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s main index dropped more than 1%, dragged lower by financial stocks and Research In Motion.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 148.99 points, or 1.03%, to close at 14,292.14.

The financials subgroup dropped 2.49%, as shares of all the major banks fell.

The tech sector dropped 4.82%, weighed down by BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion, which disappointed the market with the profit outlook it released late on Wednesday.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index bucked today’s selloff. It gained 18.98 points, or 0.75%, to finish at 2,553.37.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.23¢ to close at US98.71¢.

In New York, U.S. tocks plunged with the Dow sliding to a 21-month low as Goldman Sachs urged investors to sell bank and automaker shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 358.41 points, or 3.03%, to 11,453.42.

The S&P 500 Index tumbled 38.82 points, or 2.94%, to 1,283.16, while the Nasdaq composite index dropped 79.89 points, or 3.33%, to close at 2,321.37. It was the Nasdaq’s worst one-day percentage drop since January.

Thursday close: TSX falls more than 1%