TORONTO _ The Canadian dollar was up about one-fifth of a U.S. cent before the beginning of trading on North American stock markets.
The loonie traded at 83.77 cents US, up 0.21 of a U.S. cent from Wednesday's close.
The Dow Jones industrial futures were up 144 points at 18,129.0, the Nasdaq futures rose 34.5 points to 4,458.3, and the S&P 500 futures advanced 12.5 points to 2,107.0.
On the commodity markets, the June crude contract was down 11 cents at US$60.39 a barrel and the June gold contract rose 90 cents to US$1,219.10 an ounce.
The S&P/TSX composite closed down 62.43 points Wednesday at 14,980.72.