U.S. stock futures pointed higher Friday after yesterday’s selloff even as the price of oil climbed back over US$26 a barrel.

The price of oil rose to US$126.23 a barrel, up 74¢ on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US98.63¢, off 0.06 cent.

South of the border, orders for durable goods climbed 0.8% in June to a seasonally adjusted $215.43 billion, the U.S. Commerce Department said today. The report was better than Wall Street expected; economists had forecast a drop of 0.5% for June.

Later this morning, Commerce reports on new home sales in June at 10:00 ET. The report is expected to show the seventh decline in eight months.

In earnings news, Celestica Inc. reported a second-quarter profit of US$39.8 million, up from a year-ago loss of $19.2 million although demand declined.

International Forest Products Ltd. (TSX: IFP.A) lost $29.4 million, hit by a $33-million charge on the closure of its Queensboro sawmill.

Norbord Inc. reported a second-quarter net loss of US$37 million including a $32-million charge for the settlement of antitrust litigation in the oriented strand board industry.

In M&A news, Brookfield Properties Corp. has sold its half-interest in the TD Canada Trust Tower in Toronto to co-owner OMERS Realty Corp. for $425 million, or $721 per square foot.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 was down 0.8% at 5,318.60 early in the afternoon in London. France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.5% while Germany’s DAX fell 1.4%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index shed almost 2% to 13,334.76 points, ending a three-day winning streak.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and mainland China’s Shanghai composite each closed down about 1.5%.

Toronto stocks sank on Thursday following New York markets lower as economic reports highlighted concerns over the health of the U.S. economy.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 306.52 points, or 2.27%, at 13,206.14. All of the 10 of TSX main sectors ended the day lower.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 38.36 points, or 1.73%, to 2,184.77.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.19¢ from Wednesday’s close to end at US98.69¢.

In New York, U.S. stocks fell after surprisingly weak reports on home sales and unemployment claims renewed investors’ fears about weakness in the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 283.10 points, or 2.43%, to 11,349.28. The S&P 500 fell 29.65 points, or 2.31%, to 1,252.54. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 45.77 points, 1.97%, to 2,280.11.