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The Canadian dollar was trading below 80 cents US as North American stock markets gained ground Thursday morning.

The loonie traded at 79.54 cents US, down 0.52 of a U.S. cent from the pre-holiday close on Tuesday.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index gained 52.90 to 14,606.23, after being closed Wednesday for the Canada Day holiday.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 32.03 points at 17,789.94, the Nasdaq index rose 31 points to 5,013.43, and the S&P 500 advanced 3.71 points to 2,081.13.

On the commodity markets, the August crude contract was up 34 cents at US$57.30 a barrel and the August gold contract dropped $5.10 to US$1,164.20 an ounce.