The top economic news Wednesday morning comes from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Housing starts rose to 210,400 in June, up from 198,000 in May.

Residential construction continues at a strong pace, with mortgage rates are at 47 year lows and consumer confidence remaining high.The biggest increases were in Ontario followed by the Prairies.

Personal bankruptcies were up 4.6% in May, with Ontario leading the way. Though corporate bankruptcies are down.

Pre-equity futures trading is slow this morning pointing to muted market opening. The hot stock to watch is still Alcan. The company has received a sharp rebuff from the board of take-over target, French aluminum company Pechiney SA. It unanimously rejected the US$3.9-billion Alcan’s unsolicited takeover bid.

Alcoa, the aluminum and packaging company, reported after markets closed Tuesday, that its second-quarter profits exceeded analysts’ expectations by 3¢ per share.

In overseas trading, the Hang Seng Index closed at 10,027.41, up 34.54 points, or 0.35%. The Nikkei Stock Average closed at 9,990.95 points closed up 92.23 points, or 0.93%.

And at midday in Europe, London’s FTSE100 is down 6.5 points at 4,067.1. In Paris the CAC 40 index has fallen 21.71 points, or 0.7%, to 3,156.26. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index has declined 18.72 points, or 0.6%, to 3,325.74. Car makers Bayerische Motoren Werke and Volkswagen have led the way down.