North American stocks are set to open little changed Wednesday amid a sharp decline in Canadian building permits and ahead of data on the U.S. services sector.

Canada’s record-setting pace of construction intentions came to an abrupt halt in February, as the value of building permits plunged to its lowest level in a year. Statistics Canada said municipalities issued $4.9 billion in building permits in February, down 22.4% from the second highest level on record in January.

The Canadian dollar opened at US86.45¢, up 0.21 of a cent.

South of the border, reports are due on the U.S. Institute of Supply Management’s March nonmanufacturing survey. Also on the docket is February factory orders.

In business news, DaimlerChrysler shareholders Wednesday said the company should sell its unprofitable Chrysler Group division and focus on other operations, such as the Mercedes Car Group. The shareholder comments came after the auto giant confirmed it is in talks about the future of Chrysler, but is keeping all options open.

Australia’s Macquarie Bank is joining Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd. in a bid to take over Gateway Casinos, a major gambling operator in Western Canada, in a friendly deal valued at $1.37 billion. The 50-50 Australian joint venture, New World Gaming, is offering $25.26 per unit in cash or a total of about $800 million for the Gateway Casinos Income Fund.

NYSE Euronext declined in first day of trading in Paris as a combined holder of the New York Stock Exchange, the Liffe futures market and the Euronext stock market. The rival Eurex futures market announced it would start making markets in popular U.K. single-stock futures.

In earnings news, Best Buy reported an 18% increase in fiscal fourth-quarter profit as results were helped by continued strong sales of flat-panel televisions, videogaming hardware and notebook computers.


Crude-oil prices continued to wane in electronic trade, falling 25¢ to US$64.39 a barrel, ahead of weekly inventory data.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 rallied 1.7% in Tokyo after the yesterday’s strong North American advance. European stocks were mixed, with the FTSE 100 down 0.3% in London.

Toronto stocks surged Tuesday, despite a drop in the price of oil, as the materials index, financials sector, and the information technology group led the broader market higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 95.43 points, or 0.72%, to 13,361.23.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups moved higher.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite rose 24.41 points, or 0.77%, to 3,214.47.

In New York, markets rallied on the lower price of oil and the easing tensions between Britain and Iran.

The Dow Jones industrial average moved up 128.00, or 1.03%, to 12,510.30, the Nasdaq gained 28.07, or 1.16%, to 28.07, 2,450.33, the S&P500 gained 13.22, or 0.93%, to 1,437.77.