North American stocks are likely to open higher Friday following a move by China’s central bank to widen the yuan trading band. The more the yuan rises, the less competitive Chinese imports into the U.S. and Canada will be.

On the economic front, Canadian retail sales surged in March, resulting in a strong first quarter. March’s gains were widespread with seven of eight retail sectors posting sales increases, Statistics Canada reported.

After two months of little change in sales growth, total retail sales rose 1.9% in March to an estimated $34.0 billion, StatsCan said. The latest monthly increase helped retail sales in the first quarter of 2007 rise by 2.0%, marking a return to strong quarterly growth after a lacklustre fourth quarter of 2006.

The Canadian dollar opened at US91.21¢, up 0.19 of a cent.

South of the border, the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence gauge for May, due after the open, could decline as the impact from recent stock-market gains is offset by gasoline price increases.

Crude-oil prices climbed 15¢ to US$65.01 a barrel early Friday amid gasoline supply concerns ahead of the U.S. summer driving season and refinery glitches.

In M&A news, Microsoft announced it will acquire digital marketing company aQuantive for US$66.50 a share in an all-cash transaction valued at about US$6 billion.

General Electric. is close to an agreement with a Saudi industrial giant to buy GE’s plastics division for about US$11 billion, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported late Thursday.

In banking news, Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of America are in talks to settle their dispute over who will buy ABN Amro’s LaSalle. A Dutch court has halted the sale of LaSalle to Bank of America, a ruling that the Dutch Supreme Court is due to review this summer.

In earnings news, cigarette maker Rothmans said its fourth-quarter profit rose to $18 million from a year-earlier $16.4 million while full-year sales volumes declined.

British Airways posted a quarterly loss, blaming the impact of a threatened strike, a United Kingdom airline tax and a weak dollar on passenger traffic demand..

Intuit may climb after the tax-preparation software maker raised its earnings forecast and set an US$800 million stock buyback plan.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 ended with a 0.6% loss. The FTSE 100 rose 0.8% in London, buoyed by oil producers.

Toronto stocks set a record high for the second straight day on Thursday, boosted by oil & gas stocks as oil prices jumped.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 75.68 points, or 0.5%, at 14,100.71, a record high.

Among financial stocks, Bank of Montreal shed 30¢, or 0.4%, to $69.40. The bank said it will record $680 million in pretax trading losses, up from a previously announced loss of between $350 million and $450 million.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index was off 6.42 points to 3,236.55.

In New York, U.S. stocks edged lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 10.81 points, or 0.08%, to end at 13,476.72. The S&P 500 dipped 1.39 points, or 0.09%, to finish at 1,512.75. The Nasdaq composite index shed 8.04 points, or 0.32%, to close at 2,539.38.

During the session, the Dow hit an all-time intraday high at 13,516.71.