Rising oil prices and reports of a takeover of Noranda Inc. boosted shares on Bay Street, but good economic news form the U.S. failed to stem profit-taking on Wall Street.

At midday, Toronto’s S&P/TSX was up 31.87 points or 0. 83% to 8422.11, while the TSX Venture exchange was ahead 3.6 or 0.24% to 1526.37. Energy stocks and diversified metals and mining shares were leading the way up.

In New York, however, the Dow Jones industrial average was off 11.60 points or 0.11% at 10368.83; the Nasdaq was off 1.76 points or 0.09% to 1993.84, while the S&P 500 composite, managed to make it into positive territory, gaining 0.36 points or 0.03% to 1132.37.

Noranda shares were ahead $2.16 to $24.15 on the TSX on reports that Brazilian iron ore giant CVRD will make a $4.7-billion-US bid for the company. Noranda majority shareholder Brascan ran up $1.73 to $37.30. In a release, Noranda said it has received “several expressions of interest in the company from potential acquirors.”

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after sabotage attacks crippled Iraqi crude exports and data showed a fall in U.S. gasoline stocks, vital during the peak demand summer driving season. U.S. light crude climbed US36¢ to US$37.55 a barrel, while London’s Brent crude rose US37¢ to US$35.40.

“Iraq’s exports were about 1.6 million barrels a day, that’s what I guess the world’s spare capacity to be at the moment. So there’s no fat left, there’s no room for error, accident or more attacks,” one analyst told Reuters news agency.

Iraqi crude exports were halted after sabotage attacks this week on pipelines in the north and south of the country that feed Iraq’s only export terminals. Iraq was exporting more than 1.6 million bpd from the southern ports, most of which was loaded at the Basra terminal. Sabotage was also blamed for an explosion on Tuesday at a pipeline in the northern Kirkuk oilfields.

Profit-taking on Wall Street came after investors had driven shares up 45 points on Tuesday, after Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress that inflationary pressures were not likely to be a serious concern in the months ahead. His remarks were widely interpreted as a signal that the Fed would take a measured approach to raising interest rates, but the buying momentum failed to carry over into Wednesday’s trading.

There was a smattering of other good news in the U.S. Wednesday morning too. There was new evidence that the recovery of manufacturers is on track, as the Fed reported a 1.1% surge in big industry production for May, the strongest showing in nearly six years. The advance well outpaced the 0.6% rise forecast by economists.

Separately, the Commerce Department reported builders broke ground on fewer housing projects in May, but the level of activity was still brisk enough to exceed expectations. Total housing permits — a good barometer of current demand — were up 3.5% at 2.01 million units, the highest level in more than three decades.