U.S. stock futures were mixed Friday after oil briefly topped the US$90-a-barrel level and tech bellwether Google posted strong results.

Crude-oil futures briefly touched a new high of US$90.02 a barrel in electronic trading as the weak U.S. dollar, Iraq supply fears and a bomb attack on the former prime minister of Pakistan all helped push prices higher. The November-dated light crude contract later fell back from highs to US$89.74 a barrel.

In earnings news, Google reported a 46% rise in third-quarter profit following Thursday’s close. Revenue jumped 57%.

U.S. bank Wachovia said its third-quarter net income dropped 10% as loan-loss provisions quadrupled and the company recorded US$1.3 billion in losses and write-downs..

Caterpillar’s quarterly net income jumped 21% despite continued U.S. weakness, as the company cut its 2007 earnings outlook and issued tepid 2008 guidance.

In today’s economic news, higher gasoline prices drove up Canada’s annual inflation rate to 2.5% in September, up sharply from 1.7% the month before, Statistics Canada reported.

The core rate of inflation, which excludes the most volatile items in the consumer price index, slipped to 2% from 2.2% in August. That’s right on the Bank of Canada’s target for core inflation and represents the lowest core rate in just over a year.

The Canadian dollar opened at US103.42¢, up 0.72 of a cent.

Overseas, the UK’s FTSE 100 was down 0.11%, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.22% and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.03%.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed down 1.71%. Financial markets in Hong Kong are closed Friday.

Toronto stocks rallied strongly on Thursday after a getting a boost from energy and resource issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 112.53 points, or 0.79%, at 14,332.03, finishing up for the second straight day.

Overall, seven of the 10 TSX main groups ended higher.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was up 37.42 points to 3,047.31.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.2 of a cent to close at US102.7¢.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrials slipped 3.58 points to 13,888.96. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 6.64 points to 2,799.31.

The S&P 500 index was off 1.16 points to 1,540.08.