Stock futures headed higher Friday on a possible cash injection for Merrill Lynch from Singapore and after stronger-than-expected earnings from Research In Motion.

The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site that Merrill Lynch is in advanced talks to get a US$5 billion cash injection from Singapore’s state investment company, Temasek.

After markets closed on Thursday, Research In Motion said it earnings more than doubled for its fiscal third quarter amid continued strong demand for its BlackBerry line of smart-phone devices.

In U.S. economic news, reports are due on November personal income, spending and the core PCE price index, a favored inflation measure at the Federal Reserve. The University of Michigan’s consumer confidence poll for December also is due for release.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US100.08¢, up seven one-hundredths of a U.S. cent after Thursday’s gain of one-third of a cent.

In M&A news, Dutch firm Philips Electronics said it’s going to buy Respironics for US$5.1 billion, or US$66 a share.

Vimpel Communications is paying US$4.3 billion, or US$105 a share, for Golden Telecom, a Russian-based, U.S.-listed broadband and fixed-line operator.

Turkey’s Yildiz reached a deal to buy Godiva Chocolatier from Campbell Soup for US$850 million.

U.S. and Canadian regulators have started a probe into alleged chocolate price fixing by Hershey, Cadbury Schweppes, Mars and Nestle.

Gold futures rose US$3.70 to US$806.90 an ounce, and crude-oil futures rose 10¢ to US$91.16 a barrel.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.5% in Tokyo, and the FTSE 100 added 1.4% in London.

Toronto stocks finished higher Thursday as gains in mining and technology shares offset losses in the financials group.

The S&P/TSX composite rose 17.19 points, or 0.13%, to close at 13,407.01.

Seven of the 10 TSX main groups ended higher.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index added 22.75 points, or 0.88%, to end the session at 2,624.23.

In New York, U.S. markets ended higher despite Bear Stearns’ announcement that it will see its first ever quarterly loss after writedowns for mortgage holdings and investment slowdowns.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 38.37 points, or 0.29%, shutting down at 13,245.64. The S&P 500 also rose, closing up 7.12 points, or 0.49% to settle at 1,460.12.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 39.85 points, or 1.53%, closing at 2,640.86.