U.S. stock futures pointed to a sharply lower start Friday after the previous session’s big gains.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US83.93¢, down 0.70 cent from Thursday.

South of the border, home construction took its third tumble in a row during September, falling to the lowest level in 17 years, and a sign points to further decline in the fourth quarter.

U.S. Housing starts decreased 6.3% to a seasonally adjusted 817,000 annual rate, after falling 8.1% in August to 872,000, the U.S. Commerce Department said today. The 817,000 mark was the lowest since 798,000 in January 1991.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires forecast a 1.7% drop to an annual rate of 880,00.

A report on consumer sentiment for October is due out later this morning.

In commodity news, oil futures crept up US$1.04 to US$71.04 a barrel.

Gold futures continued their slide dropping US$12.20 to US$792.30 an ounce.

After markets closed Thursday, Google reported third-quarter net of US$1.35 billion, up 26%, fueled by strong demand for online search advertising despite the turbulent U.S. economy.

In today’s earnings news, Priszm Income Fund posted a 24% shrinkage in summer-quarter net profit to $3.5 million as sales at its KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants in Canada declined 1.9% from a year earlier to $95.9 million.

International markets were mixed.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 4.4% to its lowest level in almost three years, but Japan’s Nikkei average rose 2.8% after falling 11.4% Thursday.

The UK’s FTSE index was up 1.9% early in the afternoon in London, while Germany’s DAX rose 2.1% and the French CAC-40 rose 2.7%.

On Thursday, the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange clawed its way back from a 500-point loss on Thursday to close only slightly lower as bargain hunters returned to the market.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 53.88 points, or 0.58 percent, to end at 9,269.97.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 53.42 points, or 5.39%, to close at 937.79.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.45 of a cent to close at US84.63¢.

In New York, trading was extremely volatile during the session, as the Dow swung in a range of 700 points.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 401.35 points, or 4.68%, to close at 8,979.26. The S&P climbed 38.53 points, or 4.24%, to 946.37. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was up 89.38 points, or 5.49%, at 1,717.71.