The World Trade Center towers in New York have now collapsed after two planes crashed into the buildings earlier this morning.

Another plane has hit the Pentagon and a car bomb exploded near the U.S. State Department. The Pentagaon has partially collapsed.

Flights to the United States have been diverted to Canada. Another hijacked plane is reported flying toward Washington, D.C.

Bloomberg is reporting that Nasdaq trading will be closed until 11:30 ET. Trading on the NYSE has been halted until further notice. There has been no trading on the Nasdaq.

In response to the events today in the United States, the Toronto Stock Exchange has closed. TSE officials say they will be monitoring the situation and will issue a news release when a decision is made to resume trading.

At the close of trading, the TSE 300 Composite Index was down 293.86 to 7050.84.. France’s CAC 40 has dropped 214 points to 4,170. Germany’s DAX is off 160 points to 4,716. The FTSE has dropped 156 points to 4,878.

Stocks had been set to rise on the open this morning as traders gain confidence from the U.S. markets’ refusal to follow overseas weakness yesterday.

As well, Finnish cell phone giant Nokia Oyj affirmed that it will meet its profit forecast for the third quarter.

Techs such as Sun Microsystems Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Oracle Corp. are leading the way in early trading.

On the economic front, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in Canada increased by 11.6% in August to 169,200 units, compared with 151,600 units in July. The data suggests that the housing sector remains strong amid other signs of economic weakness.

Urban single starts rose by 9.2% to an annual rate of 79,600 from 72,900 units in July. Urban multiple starts also rose by 19.4% to an annual rate of 67,100 units compared with 56,200. The estimate for starts in rural areas is unchanged at an annual rate of 22,500 units.

In Europe, stocks are bouncing today led by Nokia and joined by drug stocks and luxury goods maker LVMH. The rebound in hopes for corporate profits comes amid news that in the second quarter France’s economy expanded at its weakest pace in more than four years. Nevertheless, the FTSE is up 68 points today to 5,102. The CAC 40 has gained 71 points to 4,455. The DAX is up 86 ticks to 4,756.

Asian markets have responded too, bouncing back after yesterday’s sharp drop. The yen dropped after Standard & Poor’s said it may reduce Japan’s credit rating, but The Nikkei gained 97 points to 10,293. The Hang Seng is up 51 points to 10,417.

In M&A news, Commerzbank AG and UniCredito Italiano SpA have ended their merger talks for the second time.

In business news, CAE announced it has sold automation systems to the U.K. Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy for $21 million.