U.S. stock futures advanced Thursday as a liquidity-boosting move by a group of central banks appear to calm global investors.

Earlier, the U.S. Federal Reserve authorized a US$180 billion expansion of its swap lines with other world central banks, including the Bank of Canada.

The news boosted confidence overseas. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed flat, recovering from a drop of 7% earlier in the session.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index, also paring early losses, ended down 2.2% at 11,489.30, a three-year low.

In Europe, London’s FTSE-100 was up 1.6%, the German DAX gained 1.2% and the Paris CAC-40 advanced 1.1%.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US94.17¢, up 0.61 cent, as the U.S. dollar declined against most other major currencies after the central bank news.

In Canadian economic news, wholesale sales rose 2.3% in July to $46.2 billion as increases across a number of sectors contributed to a fifth consecutive monthly gain. “Price effects were minimal in July, as sales in volume terms rose 2.2%,” Statistics Canada said.

Separately, StatsCan reported that the composite leading index rose by 0.3% in August after a 0.1% increase in July. Overall, six of the 10 components expanded, one more than in July.

In today’s M&A news, Lloyds TSB said it will pay over US$22 billion in stock to buy London’s HBOS in a deal backed by the U.K. government. Lloyds jumped 13%.

Gold futures continued to strengthen after Wednesday’s US$70 spike, with the lead contract up US$25.90 to US$876.40 an ounce.

Oil futures fell 56¢ to US$86.60 a barrel.

On Wednesday, Canadian stocks continued to lose value Wednesday, led by a particularly steep drop for financial firms, and a dismal revenue forecast from Nortel Networks.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 349 points, or 2.9%, to close at 11,877.69.

Information technology shares sank 12.6%. Within the group, Nortel was down 51.8% to close at $2.76 after the company cut its 2008 revenue forecast and said it was looking to sell one of its businesses.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index ended its losing streak, rising 10.55 points, or 0.72%, to close at 1,469.59.

In New York, investor anxiety continued to push U.S. markets down after news that the Federal Reserve seized control of American International Group Inc. with an US$85 billion bailout.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average fell 449.36 points, or 4.06%, to close at 10,609.66.

The S&P 500 Index declined 57.20 points, or 4.71%, to 1,156.39. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 109.05 points, or 4.94%, to close at 2,098.85.

IE