By James Langton

(September 6 – 09:00 ET) – The big news today is another financial sector merger, with Citigroup buying consumer finance firm Associates First Capital for US$31.1 billion in stock. In the wake of that deal BNP Paribas SA says it is looking to do acquisitions, and a German newspaper is reporting that Deutsche Bank AG is in talks to buy J.P. Morgan & Co.

There are no major data releases out today, although at 10:00 ET there’s a manufacturing report in the U.S. The revised estimate for second quarter productivity came in moderately higher at 5.7%, economists expected it to jump to 5.4% from the first reported 5.3%.

In Canada, the Help Wanted Index for August slipped 0.6% to 170, economists were expecting a slight jump to 172. The August index decreased in Nova Scotia (-2.4%), Ontario (-1.6%) and British Columbia (-0.7%), while it increased in Quebec (+2.5%) and was little changed in other provinces.

In Europe trading is mostly to the downside, with insurers up while technology is sliding again today. The FTSE is down 32 points to 6,720. The CAC 40 is off 29 points to 6,827. The DAX is down 12 points to 7,382.

In other news, crude oil is up to a 10-year high on the expectation that production increases won’t be sufficient to cut prices.

Overnight in Asia markets where mixed. The Nikkei finished down 52 points to 16,400. The Hang Seng closed up 10 points to 17,605.

In Canadian business news, QLT Inc. says that Ken Galbraith, its executive vice president and CFO, will step down at the end of October.

Inco Ltd.is buying all of its outstanding Class VBN Shares, which represent the Voisey’s Bay nickel deposit. It will offer $7.50 per share plus 0.45 of an Inco common share purchase warrant for a total of $195 million in cash and 11.7 million warrants.

JetForm Corp. says it will launch its first product for the wireless market, technology that will allow employees who work on the road to send and receive electronic business forms over Web-connected devices.

Suncor Energy Inc. says it is suspending further investment in the Australian Stuart shale project and it will write down its total A$95 million investment.

Corel Corp. has revealed the victims of its US$40 million in expenditure cuts. It will close its operations in Dublin, Ireland and will implement cost reductions across all departments.