TORONTO _ The Canadian dollar is holding steady ahead of trading on North American stock markets.
The loonie traded at 78.72 cents US, up 0.02 of a U.S. cent from Thursday's close.
The Dow Jones industrial futures were up 184 points at 17,636.0, the Nasdaq futures rose 56.5 points to 4,396.0, and the S&P 500 futures advanced 25.3 points to 2,066.5.
On the commodity markets, the August crude contract was up 35 cents at US$53.13 a barrel and the August gold contract rose $2.50 to US$1,161.70 an ounce.
The S&P/TSX composite index Thursday at 14,278.49, down 133.58 points.