TORONTO _ The Canadian dollar was up about half a cent after North American stock markets opened Thursday on a negative note.
The loonie traded at 81.81 cents US, up 0.51 of a U.S. cent from Wednesday's close.
The S&P/TSX composite was down 68.86 points at 15,382.01 after rising nearly 62 points on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 28.66 points at 18,083.95, the Nasdaq index fell 1.18 points to 5,009.84, and the S&P 500 declined 3.55 points to 2,103.08.
On the commodity markets, the May crude contract was down 59 cents at US$55.80 a barrel and the June gold contract rose $2.60 to US$1,203.90 an ounce after the TSX open.