U.S. stock futures pointed marginally higher Thursday morning as commodities prices continued to slide.

Light sweet crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down $2.14 at US$100.40 per barrel early Thursday, after earlier falling as low as $99.59.

Gold was down $27.80 at US$917.50 an ounce, after falling as low as $904.70 overnight – down from the key month contract’s settle at $1,003.20 on Tuesday.

The Canadian dollar opened at US97.75¢, down 0.74 of cent. This followed the previous day’s plunge of 2.19 cents – the steepest one-day drop since May 1962 for what traders regard as a commodity-dependent currency.

In today’s Canadian economic news, Statistics Canada reported that non-residents bought another $916 million worth of Canadian securities in January. Meanwhile, Canadian investment in foreign securities remained little changed in January.

Separately, StatsCan said its composite index dipped 0.3% in February after a 0.1% gain in January. Overall, 4 of the 10 components increased and 6 decreased. Most of the weakness originated in a sharp contraction of manufacturing, especially autos, at the turn of the year.

Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Thursday downgraded its economic forecasts for the U.S., euro-zone and Japan for the first half of 2008 and warned Europe and Japan that they don’t have room to ease fiscal or monetary policy.

Also, a U.S. government report showed a bigger-than-expected jump in applications for jobless benefits last week.

The U.S. Labour Department said jobless claims rose by 22,000 last week to 378,000.

In earnings news, Credit Suisse Group warned today that difficult market conditions in March will lead to a first-quarter net loss, erasing gains made in the first two months of the year.

Stock markets overseas were mixed.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed for a holiday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 3.5%.

The FTSE 100 slipped 0.5% at midday in London. Germany’s DAX index was flat while the French CAC-40 declined 0.4%.

Falling commodity prices weighed heavily on Toronto stocks Wednesday as mounting evidence of a recession south of the border cast doubt on U.S. demand.

The S&P/TSX Composite index closed down 427.32 points, or 3.25%, at 2,709.38.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed down 71.23 points, or 2.79%, at 2,484.99.

In New York, U.S. stocks tumbled.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 293 points, or 2.36%, to end at 12,099.66. The S&P 500 fell 32.32 points, or 2.43%, to close at 1,298.42.

As well, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 58.30 points, or 2.57%, at 2,209.96.