North American stock markets are poised to open higher Friday after two days of sharp losses as oil prices fell below US$67 a barrel and Canada’s jobless rate inched higher.

Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percentage points to 6.5%, still among the lowest in 30 years.

Full-time work jumped by 47,000 jobs in August, but was more than offset by the 63,000 lost part time positions.

The Canadian dollar opened at US89.98¢, down 0.08 of a cent.

Light sweet crude for October delivery dropped 52¢ to US$66.80 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

OPEC is expected to leave its formal crude-output limits unchanged when the cartel meets in Vienna Monday.

In M&A news, Canadian Oil Sands Trust has succeeded in its $219 million takeover of Canada Southern Petroleum Ltd., announcing late Thursday that it had taken up 78% of Canada Southern stock.

Overseas, European indexes rose in early action.

Meanwhile, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index edged up 68.05 points, or 0.42%, to 16,080.46, after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy steady.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 49.32 points, or 0.3%, to 17,145.76.

Toronto stocks dropped again Thursday, the second straight day of triple-digit selloffs, as falling oil and other commodities dragged the market lower.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 104.70 points, or 0.87%, to 11,895.04, after losing 198.89 in the previous session.

Nine of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with only consumer staples registering a gain, up 0.15% on the day.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index lost 60.28 points, or 2.15%, to 2,733.26.

In New York, markets were lower Thursday after a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve official hinted at possible resumption of interest rate hikes after a recent pause.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 74.76 points to 11,331. The Nasdaq composite index was down 12.55 points to 2,155.29. The S&P 500 Index dropped 6.24 points to 1,294.02.