U.S. Stock futures edged lower on Wednesday following a huge rally on Thursday.

North American stocks surged on Tuesday in the wake of Wal-Mart Stores’ better-than-forecast third-quarter profit, with the financial sector zooming into the lead as the session progressed.

In today’s economic news, U.S. retail sales growth slowed as expected during October. Retail sales increased by 0.2%, the U.S. Commerce Department said. Sales went up a revised 0.7% in September.

Meanwhile, U.S. wholesale prices registered a slight gain in October, held down by a drop in energy costs, though pipeline pressures intensified.

The producer price index for finished goods rose 0.1% in October, the U.S. Labor Department said, following September’s 1.1% increase.

Here at home, Statistics Canada reported that the composite index rose 0.1% in October after a downward-revised gain of 0.3% in September. Of the 10 components, six increased, while four declined, the highest number of components to decline since October 2006.

The Canadian dollar soared almost three-quarters of a U.S. cent early Wednesday morning after moving sharply lower over the last four sessions. The loonie rose 0.7 of a cent to $US1.0496, reflecting a boost in oil prices.

Oil prices rose US$1.11 to US$92.28 a barrel, a day after closing at US$91.17 from a one-day drop of US$3.45.

In earnings news, Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. said it will take a US$1.2 billion writedown in the fourth quarter related to its credit portfolios.

HSBC Holdings said it was taking US$3.4 billion in charges in the third quarter because of accelerating losses in its American consumer-lending unit, HSBC Finance.

Led by HSBC, the FTSE 100 rose 0.5% in London. The Nikkei 225 jumped 2.5% in Tokyo.

Toronto stocks rebounded on Tuesday, ending two days of sharp declines, as gains in the materials and financials sectors offset losses in the energy group.

The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 100.18 points or 0.74%, to finish at 13,705.14.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index shed 6.30 points, or 0.21%, to finish at 2,946.32.

In New York, U.S. stocks snapped a four-day losing streak.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged 319.54 points, or 2.46%, to close at 13,307.09. The S&P 500 gained 41.87 points, or 2.91%, to end at 1,481.05. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index shot up 89.52 points, or 3.46%, to finish at 2,673.65.