TORONTO _ The Canadian dollar was down about one-quarter of a U.S. cent before North American stock markets opened Thursday.
The loonie traded at 81.28 cents US, down 0.27 of a U.S. cent from Wednesday's close.
The Dow Jones industrial futures were up 23 points at 18,041.0, the Nasdaq futures rose 7.7 points to 4,496.5, and the S&P 500 futures advanced 2.6 points to 2,109.5.
On the commodity markets, the July crude contract was down 63 cents at US$60.80 a barrel and the August gold contract fell $5.10 to US$1,181.50 an ounce.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed Wednesday at 14,889.04, up 71.33 points.