North American markets are likely to open higher Friday as investors respond to a positive earnings outlook for Ford Motor Co., the federal government’s plan to sell its stake in Petro-Canada, and a favourable report on Canadian inflation.

Ford Motor Co. today boosted its third-quarter earnings outlook even as it disclosed an overhaul of the Jaguar brand, cutting 1,150 jobs.

After markets closed Thursday, the federal government revealed details of the planned sale of its 19% stake in Petro-Canada, setting the stage for the biggest single share sale in Canadian history. The offering, estimated to be worth $3 billion, is expected to close by Sept. 29. Before the announcement Petro-Canada shares closed down $1.22 at $61.65.

In today’s economic news, Canada’s annual inflation rate slipped to 1.9% in August, down from the 2.3% recorded in July, Statistics Canada said. A slower rise in the price of gasoline last month led to the smaller overall increase in the cost of the living, StatsCan said.

On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported only a modest 0.1% rise in consumer prices for August. Excluding food and energy, inflation also rose 0.1%.

The inflation data was better than expected. Economists were expecting both inflation gauges to rise by 0.2%

Overnight in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 56.87 points, or 0.51%, to 11,082.49 points ahead of a three-day weekend. Japanese financial markets will be closed Monday for a national holiday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng edged up 15.09 points, or 0.1%, to 13,224.94.

Bay Street stocks finished higher Thursday even as the price of oil rose in afternoon trading and Nortel Networks issued a profit warning. Nortel shares fell 43¢, or 8.7%, to $4.49 in heavy trading of 42 million shares.

At the close, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 26.35 points at 8,493.38 on a volume of 240 million shares.

Crude-oil prices turned higher as traders continued to assess Hurricane Ivan’s potential damage to oil and gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Crude for October delivery ended up US30¢ at US$43.88 a barrel, but off a session high of US$44.20.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index edged up 0.47 of a point to 1,526.25.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average finished up 13.13 points at 10,244,49.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 7.56 points to 1,904.08, buoyed by a rebound in semiconductor stocks and Internet shares.

The S&P 500 climbed 3.13 points to 1,123.50.