The Toronto stock market could move slightly higher on Friday as investors pare some of the steep losses from the previous session.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.15 of a cent at 97.30 cents US in the morning.

On Thursday, the TSX plummeted 3%, closing more than 350 points lower in its biggest one-day drop since November. Much of the pull was from resource stocks and tanking commodity prices.

In the U.S., investors are expected to focus on a move from Moody’s Investors Service to cut the credit ratings of 15 of the world’s largest banks, including Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank (TSX:RY).

The ratings agency said Thursday it was especially concerned about banks with significant financial markets businesses because those markets have become so volatile.

U.S. futures were higher with the Dow Jones industrial futures ahead 41 points to 12,543. The Nasdaq futures gained 4.75 points to 2,557 and the S&P 500 futures added 4.25 points to 1,322.50.

In commodities, the August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 23 cents at US$78.43 a barrel.

August gold was up $3.70 at US$1,569.20 an ounce.

European and Asian stocks fell Friday after economic reports suggested growth will weaken in the world’s major economies. Downbeat data on Germany, China and the U.S. came on top of uncertainty over whether European leaders will make progress in tackling their debt crisis at key meetings.

Germany’s Ifo institute reported that business optimism fell for a second straight month in Europe’s largest economy, which has been growing more strongly than the 17-member eurozone as a whole. The survey index dipped to 105.3 from 106.9 in May.

That followed a U.S. Labor Department report from Thursday that the four-week average of applications for unemployment benefits jumped to the highest level in nine months. Appetite for financial assets such as stocks was also dented by the results of a monthly HSBC survey, which showed that manufacturing in China has continued to contract.

China’s growth has been a pillar of the global economy in recent years, so its slowdown has been of particular concern to investors.

Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.86% to 5,518.55, while the French CAC 40 eased 0.42% to 3,101.02 and the German DAX 30 blue chips index fell 0.91% to 6,285.71.

In Asian trading, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2% to 8,802.54 and South Korea’s Kospi slid 2.1% to 1,848.57. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1% to 19,067.51 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 1% at 4,046.70. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia fell while the Philippines rose. Markets in mainland China were closed for a public holiday.