By James Langton

(September 7 – 09:00 ET) – There are no major economic releases out today on either side of the border. U.S. initial jobless claims for last week slipped by 3,000, exactly as economists expected, and the market barely registered the news.

The only major economic news is the U.K.’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting, which left rates unchanged. This, too, was expected, meaning little market reaction.

Markets are all sliding in Europe this morning, but the moves are moderate. The FTSE is down 16 points to 6,679. The CAC 40 is off two points to 6,795, and the DAX is down 22 points to 7,311.

In M&A news, Abbey National plc, the UK’s second-largest building society, is buying Scottish Provident Institution for US$2.6 billion.

It is being reported that AT&T Wireless Group and Nextel Communications Inc. are contemplating a merger of their mobile-phone businesses.

Belgian food retailer, Delhaize-Le Lion SA, is bidding US$1.8 billion for the 55% of its U.S. unit, Red Lion, it doesn’t already own. It’s an all stock offer.

Tiscali SpA, Italy’s third-largest ISP is reportedly close to buying out slumping rival World Online International NV.

In. U.S. business news, DuPont Co., the world’s largest chemical company, is warning that it won’t meet earnings forecasts. It is attributing the shortfall to higher raw material costs, the slumping Euro and a U.S. slowdown.

Crude oil prices continue higher today, up to more than US$35 a barrel, levels not seen since the Gulf War. The expectation is that production boosts expected out of an OPEC meeting on Sunday won’t be enough to compensate for dwindling inventories.

Overnight in Asia stocks slid, led by technology. The Nikkei finished down 99 points to 16,300. The Hang Seng dropped 173 points to 17,432.

In Canadian business news, Open Text Corp. has announced a strategic partnership with Oracle Corp. to build highly-scalable solutions integrating browser-based software with enterprise portals.