U.S. stock futures were mostly flat Thursday as two of Canada’s big bank posted lower profits, and the European Central Bank and the Bank of England moved to slash interest rates.

In today’s earnings news, CIBC said it had a profit of $436 million, or $1.06 a share, in the fourth quarter, down from $884 million, or $2.53 a share, a year earlier.

Toronto-Dominion Bank said it earned $1.014 billion in the fourth quarter, down 7.3% from a year ago.

In Europe, stocks reversed early gains after the Bank of England and the European Central Bank lowered interest rates.

Germany’s DAX shed 0.4% and France’s CAC 40 lost 1.4% to 3,122.17. The UK’s FTSE 100 reversed early gains after the Bank of England slashed its key interest rate by 1 percentage point, disappointing some investors who expected a more aggressive move. The index recently traded 1.4% lower at 4,111.94.

The European Central Bank cut interest rates by 75 basis points to 2.5%, its biggest ever move.

Here at home, the total value of building permits decreased by 15.7% to $5.4 billion in October, Statistics Canada reported today. Construction intentions fell in both the residential and non-residential sectors, and in all provinces except Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Canadian dollar opened down 0.35¢ at US79.43¢ as traders awaited Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s next move as he strives to prevent his minority Conservative government from being replaced by a Liberal-NDP coalition.

South of the border, weekly jobless claims and October factory orders for the U.S. are expected.

In other financial sector news, Credit Suisse Group announced it was making 5,300 job cuts after posting a loss of around US$2.5 billion for the first two months of the fourth quarter.

Chevy Chase Bank is going to be purchased by Capital One Financial for US$520 million, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Citigroup previously was reported to be a suitor for the Maryland bank.

In commodities news, light sweet crude was trading at US$46.10, down 69¢ in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. The contract fell 17¢ overnight to settle at US$46.79.

Asian markets ended mixed. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1% to 7,924.24.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 0.6% to 13,509.78, but the mainland’s Shanghai composite index ended up 1.8% at 2,001.50 on signs of government support.

On Wednesday, the Toronto Stock Exchange had another roller coaster day on Wednesday, shedding as much as 200 points during the day’s trading, but recovering to close down just 0.37%.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 8,296.96, lower by 30.85 points, as losses by commodity stocks were somewhat offset by financial company gains.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index moved lower by 19 points, or 2.6%, to close at 712.08.

In New York, U.S. stock markets experienced similar dramatic volatility on Wednesday, with a late-day surge leading to gains for all three main indexes.

After witnessing triple-digit swings in both directions, the Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 172.6 points, or 2.05%, at 8,591.69.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 42.58 points, or 2.94%, to close at 1,492.38. The S&P 500 index gained 21.93 points, or 2.6%, to finish at 870.74.

Wednesday close: TSX pares earlier losses after see-saw session

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