Hopes for a stimulus package helped send U.S. stock futures higher Friday, a day after the worst session in 2008.

U.S. President George Bush, driven by the worsening economic outlook in the United States and a tumbling stock market is expected to lay out the principles of his stimulus plan later today.

Friday’s session features the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey for January, and the Conference Board’s leading economic indicators index, which are both due around 10:00 ET.

In this morning’s earnings news, General Electric reported a 4% rise in net income amid growth in its infrastructure unit and its film divisions.

The company also cut US$165 million from previously reported net income from 2002 through 2006.

In other earnings news, IBM estimated 2008 earnings above consensus forecasts.

Gold futures fell US$3.20 to US$877.60 an ounce, while oil futures rose 65¢ to US$90.22 a barrel.

Overseas, Japanese stocks recovered from an early plunge Friday as investors scooped up shares that have been beaten down in recent days.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index rose 77.84 points, or 0.57%, to close at 13,861.29 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The FTSE 100 rose 1.3% in London, as negative news on retail sales spurred renewed interest-rate cut speculation.

Toronto stocks fell further Thursday after fears of a slowdown in the U.S. economy hammered commodity issues to help push the TSX down more than 900 points so far this week.

The S&P/TSX composite closed well below 13,000. It was down 279.21 points, or 2.14%, at 12,795.65.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed down 67.47 points, or 2.48%, at 2,656.74.

The Canadian dollar opened at 97.6¢ US this morning, up about half a cent from Thursday’s close.

In New York, stocks took a nosedive after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke spoke about that country’s economic troubles and noted the likelihood of a continued slowdown.

The Dow Jones industrial average had its worst day of the year, losing 306.95 points, or 2.5%, at 12,159.2. The S&P 500 also lost ground, closing down fell 39.92 points, or 2.9%, to 1,333.28

The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 47.69 points, or 1.99%, to 2,346.90.