Trading in the Canadian dollar Thursday morning is being affected by a speech given by Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge yesterday. Dodge said inflation is under control and interest rate hikes are, therefore, unnecessary.

The Canadian dollar is backing off in early trading. Some analysts are speculating that the central bank may even lower rates at its next meeting in July.

Wall Street futures are pointing to a positive start to equities trading. Though, markets may not get going until Noon when the “Philly Fed” — the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank releases a report on manufacturing in its region. If it turns out to be a positive echo of the Empire State report — released last week by the New York Fed– markets may take a jump.

Meanwhile, the U.S. federal departments of labor and commerce released reports that are not exactly good news for the American economy. Labor is reporting that the number of workers filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits declined for a second consecutive week, but it’s still above the 400,000 comfort level. Initial jobless claims fell by 13,000 to a five-week low of 421,000 in the week that ended Saturday.

Commerce is reporting that the current account deficit, the broadest gauge of the nation’s global trade, widened further in the first quarter. The trade gap widened to $136.1 billion during the January-to-March period.

In Europe, markest are down as investors take a breather after a surge of profit-taking in recent days.

London’s FTSE 100 index is down 17.5 points, or 0.4%, at 4,189.5. The CAC-40 index in Paris is down 8.73 points, or 0.3%, at 3,205.2. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index is down 12.21 points, or 0.4%, at 3,291.94.

In Asia, markets finished up. Tokyo, the Nikkei jumped 17.54 points, or 0.19%, to 9,110.51. In Hong Kong, trading fell short of breaking the psychologically important 10,000-point mark. The Hang Seng Index closed up 9.81 points, or 0.1%, at 9,980.11.