Toronto streak continues

Toronto's main stock index opened higher on Friday, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she supported the European Central Bank's efforts to resolve the debt crisis.

The S&P/TSX Composite index improved 38.71 points to begin the week's last session at 12,071.29

The Canadian dollar was lower by 0.28 cents to 101.07 cents U.S.

Stocks to watch this morning include Potash Corp, which announced plans Thursday to shut down its Lanigan, Saskatchewan mine for nearly a month, as the fertilizer industry grapples with large supplies.

Research In Motion plans to provide users with an easy way to tap their contacts' public profiles -- including blog posts, tweets, emails and other details -- in its latest push to regain ground in the smartphone market.

On the economic beat, Statistics Canada revealed this morning that consumer prices rose 1.3% in the 12 months to July, following a 1.5% increase in June. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI declined 0.1% in July, after decreasing 0.2% in June.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange gained 6.11 points to 1,227.36. The Nasdaq Canada advanced 1.04 points to 350.31.

All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups broke from the blocks in positive country. Metals and mining stocks were the champion, rising 1.1%, while information technology, up 0.5%, and consumer discretionary stocks vaulted 0.4%.

The three laggards were utilities and global base metals, each off 0.1%, and consumer staples, inching back 0.02%.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stocks opened modestly higher Friday as investors look to close the books on a quiet trading week.

The Dow Jones industrial average began Friday up 15.92 points to 13,266.03

The S&P 500 nipped up 1.22 points to 1,416.73. The Nasdaq inched ahead 3.06 points to 3,065.45.

Companies, including retailer Foot Locker and peanut butter and coffee maker J.M. Smucker, reported their quarterly results Friday morning.

Trading volume has been low over the past few days, with many traders on vacation and little news out of Europe.
U.S. stocks closed higher Thursday following strong earnings from Cisco Systems and a mixed bag of economic data.

Facebook shares rose slightly after the stock fell 6.3% Thursday as the social media company's "lock-up period" for company insiders expired. More than 150 million shares changed hands, pushing the stock down as much as 7% to an all-time intraday low.

On the economic slate, the University of Michigan will release the preliminary August reading of its Consumer Sentiment Index this morning. The reading is expected to come in at 72.2, down slightly from July's 72.3.

Also later on, the Conference Board will release its index of leading economic indicators for July, which is expected to have increased by 0.2%.

The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury crept up, pushing the yield down to 1.82% from Wednesday's 1.84%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil for September delivery slipped 19 cents to $95.41 U.S. a barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery rose $1.30 to $1,620.50 U.S. an ounce.