North American stocks are likely to open mixed Friday amid earnings news and lower oil prices.

Crude-oil prices fell 47¢ to US$59.52 a barrel in early trading Friday as traders shrugged off snowstorms and icy weather to lock in profits ahead of the weekend.

Telus Corp. said it’s on track to beat its 2005 forecasts and should see earnings per share grow by at least 23% in 2006. The company also announced plans for a stock buyback.

Software giant Oracle said its profit fell 2.1% in its fiscal second quarter despite a 19% jump in revenue, largely reflecting continuing costs associated with its acquisition of PeopleSoft.

Scholastic warned that fiscal 2005 earnings would be at the bottom end of its US$2.30 to US$2.50 a share range after reporting an 8% decline in second-quarter profit. Scholastic’s net income in the second quarter fell to US$66.9 million, or US$1.59 a share, with revenue up 2% at US$696 million.

In M&A, Placer Dome reaffirmed its rejection of the $10.8 billion hostile bid from Barrick Gold Corp. Placer Dome said the obtaining of several regulatory approvals by Barrick “changes nothing”.

In other news, Conrad Black faces additional charges Friday that could add decades to his maximum prison sentence if convicted of plundering the Hollinger International Inc. newspaper empire.

The Canadian dollar opened at US86.48¢, up 0.26 of a cent.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 declined for a third day in a row while European equities got a boost from short covering after the expiration of key stock market index options and futures.

Toronto stocks edged slightly lower Thursday, as oil prices and the Canadian dollar retreated from recent highs.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 3.00, or 0.03%, to 11,092.81.

Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, but the energy sector was off 1.02%.


The S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 8.56, or 0.40%, to 2,138.09.

In New York, markets dipped slightly despite economic news that suggested inflation was in check and a favorable court ruling for tobacco giant Altria Corp.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.84 pints , or 0.02%, to 10,881.67, the S&P500 index dropped 1.80, or 0.14%, to 1,270.94, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 1.96, or 0.09%, to 2,260.63.