Stocks are pointing to a positive open this morning, led by the techs, after Dell Computer Corp. said Thursday that its second-quarter earnings will beat analyst forecasts.

The news is boosting names such as EMC Corp., Oracle Corp. and Ciena Corp., along with the rest of the tech sector.

The good feeling about Dell and its earnings is also overcoming news of corporate shenanigans.

Network Associates Inc. is restating its results for 1998 through 2000 after an internal accounting review. And, Schering-Plough Corp. has agreed to pay a record fine of US$500 million to settle a fine with the U.S. Food and Drug Admnistration.

In economic news, the U.S. trade gap for March fell to US$31.6 billion, as exports rose faster than imports, and global demand increased.

Canada’s trade balance fell by $376 million to $4.4 billion in March, the lowest level since October 2001. The 7.9% drop from February was a result of falling exports to all of Canada’s principal trading partners except Japan.

In Europe stocks are generally up. Along with the Dell news, there’s also news that Russia plans to drop oil export limits over the next two months.

The FTSE is up 10 points to 5,258. The CAC 40 has added 21 points to 4,487. The DAX has gained 61 ticks to 5,108.

Overnight in Asia, stocks finished the week on the upside there too. The yen rose after the government said it believed its latest recession is over. The Nikkei gained 109 points to 11,847. The Hang Seng added 142 points to 11,975.

In M&A news, Enbridge announced that it has reached an agreement to transfer natural gas gathering, processing and transportation facilities to Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. for US$929 million.