North American stock futures pointed to another day of losses Thursday after U.S. bond insurer MBIA Inc. revealed a heavy loss.

MBIA posted a fourth-quarter net loss of US$2.3 billion on writedowns in its credit derivatives portfolio.

Here at home, economic activity increased 0.1% in November, after growing 0.2% in October and 0.1% in September.

Statistics Canada said the increase in output of the service industries outweighed the decrease in the production of goods.

The Canadian dollar opened at US100.16¢, down about half a cent.

In U.S. economic news, U.S. consumers spent less in December than at any time in the past 15 months, while applications for unemployment benefits soared last week, two more signs the economy is weakening.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported today that consumer spending edged up just 0.2% in December, down sharply from a 1% gain in November. It was the weakest performance in this area since spending fell by 0.1% in September, 2006.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of laid off workers filing applications for unemployment benefits soared by 69,000 to 375,000. That was the highest level for jobless claims since the week of Oct. 8, 2005, when U.S. the economy was dealing with the disruptions caused by Hurricane Katrina and the other Gulf Coast hurricanes.

In other earnings news, Petro-Canada said its fourth-quarter profit jumped 36% to $522 million, from a year-earlier $384 million.

Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. reported its fourth-quarter profit rose 25% as exchange revenue increased almost 16%.

Toy maker Mattel reported a 15% profit increase.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. said its fourth-quarter profit rose 3%, boosted by strong sales growth overseas.

Amazon.com said its profit more than doubled in the holiday quarter, though the retailer’s profit margin slipped.

Google is set to report earnings at the end of the day. Other companies due to report quarterly results include Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Crude-oil futures continued to lose ground in electronic trade, down $1.10 to $91.23 a barrel.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei closed up 1.85% today.

But fears of further writedowns drove European markets lower in midday trade. London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.74%, Frankfurt’s DAX lost 1.23% and Paris’s CAC 40 was down 0.96%.

On Wednesday, North American markets climbed after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a 50 basis point cut to its key fed funds rate, but the surge didn’t last and stocks slumped late in the day.

Financials and industrials dragged the S&P/TSX composite index down 48.23 points, or 0.37%, to close at 12,998.20.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 3 points, or 0.12%, at 2,555.38.

In New York, markets surged following the Fed announcement, but quickly lost ground and closed in the red.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 37.47 points, or 0.30%, to close at 12,442.83.

The S&P 500 fell 6.49 points, or 0.48%, ending the session at 1,355.81.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 9.06 points, or 0.38%, to 2,349.00.