Canadian energy stocks are expected to be avidly traded today, as crude oil for October delivery rose 54 U.S. cents to US$64.91 a barrel in New York, after three days of downward movement. In the U.S., stock futures fell, sparking concerns about rising costs and slowing demand.

On Wall Street, Standard & Poor’s futures fell 3.50 points to sit 4.80 points below fair value, while Nasdaq futures dropped 4.00 points to sit 6.49 points below fair value. Dow futures fell 28 points.

Reports out later day are expected to show that U.S. petroleum inventories declined due to the debilitating impact of Hurricane Katrina on oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

CanWest Global Communications Corp. announced today plans to spin off a stake in its Canadian newspaper and interactive media business into an income trust. The deal, which does not include the National Post, will leave the new fund with an interest of about 28% in CanWest’s domestic newspapers and interactive media.

Yesterday, Toronto stocks nudged ahead despite a dip in the energy sector, as the market was pulled ahead by the technology group.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 11.93, or 0.11%, to close 10,810.05.

Volume on the senior exchange was 270 million shares.

The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate by 0.25% to 2.75%, a widely expected move.

The information technology sector rose 2.72%, the biggest increase of any TSX sector on the day.

Nortel Networks Corp. gained 21¢, or 5.75%, to $3.86 after Korea’s KTF announced it had picked Nortel and LG Electronics for broadband wireless service.

U.K. pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline said it has agreed to buy Vancouver-based ID Biomedical for $1.7 billion. Shares in ID Biomedical spiked ahead $4.07, or 13.14%, to $35.05.

Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. shares rose 9¢, or 1.74%, to $5.26, after the company said it is selling its half ownership in Pan Asia Paper Co. to Norske Skog for $600 million US.

In economic news, Statistics Canada said $4.9-billion in building permits were issued in July, down 3% from the previous month.

The Canadian dollar closed up 0.03 of a U.S. cent at US84.15¢.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange finished up 2.72, or 0.14%, to 1,952.45.

In New York, stocks moved higher largely on the drop in energy prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 44.26 points to 10,633.50, the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.17 points to 2,172.03, while the S&P 500 gained 2.97 points to 1,236.36.