North American markets may stall at the open Friday as oil prices climb.

Crude oil futures rose 43¢ to US$46.65 a barrel in early trading Friday.

In this morning’s economic news, Statistics Canada said wholesale sales declined 1.9% in September. That’s the first decrease in seven months.

Despite this sizable drop, sales rose 1.0% in the third quarter, StatsCan said.

The third-quarter gain follows a 5.1% increase in the second quarter. Moreover, cumulative sales for the first nine months of the year were up 6.3% compared with 2003, the government agency said.

The Canadian dollar opened at US83.24¢, up 0.31 of a cent. The loonie fell 0.86 of a cent to US82.93¢ on Thursday.

Toronto stocks slipped in afternoon trading to close lower Thursday as gains in technology issues failed to offset declines in other sectors. The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 16.06 points, or 0.18%, at 8,971.54. Volume was 241 million shares.


The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed up 6.28 points, or 0.37%, at 1,686.40, on volume of 87 million shares.

On Wall Street, stocks rose modestly as investors looked past a mix of economic data and falling profit forecasts from Google Inc. and Applied Materials Inc.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 22.98 points or 0.22%, at 10,572.55. The S&P 500 edged up1.61 points, or 0.14%, to 1,183.55. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 4.60 points, or 0.22%, to end at 2,104.28.