The Toronto stock market headed for a flat open Friday with investors inclined to do little going into the weekend amid questions about whether the U.S. economic recovery has weakened to a point where the Federal Reserve will launch another round of stimulus measures.

There was still fallout over weak economic data from China and Europe which pointed to the fragile state of the global economy.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.07 of a cent to 100.57 cents US.

U.S. markets also looked to open on the negative side with the Dow Jones futures down 13 points to 13,026, the Nasdaq futures lost 3.5 points to 2,757.5 while the S&P 500 futures slipped three points to 1,397.

Markets had rallied somewhat Wednesday after minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting showed bankers favoured more stimulus.

Indexes then closed in the red Thursday after St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank president James Bullard said the minutes from the Aug. 1 meeting were stale because the economy had picked up since then.

Adding to uncertainty was Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, who said the Fed should take action to bolster the economy.

Traders also opted for caution amid weak economic activity overseas as HSBC said Thursday that its manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for China fell to a nine-month low in July amid weak global demand for the country's exports. And in Europe, the PMI of overall economic activity in the eurozone was also stuck below 50 last month, which means the economy is contracting.

Commodities fell back with the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange down 59 cents to US$95.68 a barrel.

Copper backed off three cents to US$3.47 following a 12-cent jump over the last three sessions.

And bullion gave back some of Thursday's US$32 rise, down $6.40 to US$1,666.40 an ounce.

The economic calendar is light but traders will take in the latest reading on U.S. durable goods orders. Economists expect these orders to have increased by 2.5 per cent in July, largely on the back of huge orders for aircraft maker Boeing, following a 1.3 per cent rise in June.