U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open Thursday after a government report showed U.S. consumer prices jumped 5.6% from a year earlier in July, led by gains in food, energy, airline fares and apparel.

Before the release of today’s CPI report, Wall Street got a boost from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which said its second-quarter profit rose 17% and that it was lifting its full-year forecast.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said the combination of higher prices and increased gasoline consumption has raised the portion of income consumers allocate to gasoline to 3.8% in the first quarter of 2008, from 2.9% in 2002. Meanwhile, higher prices have lifted energy to Canada’s leading export so far in 2008.

The Canadian dollar opened at US94.19¢ this morning, up 0.07 of a cent from Wednesday’s close.

In today’s M&A news, two Toronto-based investment firms have offered to buy Sleep Country Canada in a friendly deal valued at $356 million.

Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. and Westerkirk Capital Inc. have offered $22 for each unit of the income trust that owns Sleep Country. That’s 37% above the Wednesday closing price for Sleep Country units.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.51%. In morning trading, the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 1.24%, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.63%, and France’s CAC-40 rose 1.09%.

Euro-zone growth braked sharply in the second quarter as major economies Germany, France and Italy shrank, with high fuel and food prices holding back consumer spending.

Growth in the 15 economies that share the euro currency contracted by 0.2% from the first quarter, expanding just 1.5% from the same period a year ago, the EU statistical agency Eurostat said today.

The benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange ended a four-session losing streak Wednesday as resource shares got a boost from strong commodity prices.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 210.22 points, or 1.6%, at 13,377.22.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 20.37 point, or 1.03%, to end at 1,996.89.

In New York, U.S. stocks fell as persistent concerns about the credit crisis hurt bank shares while a rebound in oil prices sparked worries about consumer spending.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 109.51 points, or 0.94%, to 11,532.96. The S&P 500 slipped 3.77 points, or 0.29%, to 1,285.82. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index shed 1.99 points, or 0.08%, to 2,428.62.