Investors have another blockbuster merger to digest when equity markets open Thursday.

Goldcorp Inc. and Glamis Gold have agreed to merge in a deal to create a massive new Canadian gold miner worth more than $23 billion.

Late Wednesday, Summit Real Estate Investment Trust announced it is supporting a takeover offer worth $3.3 billion in cash and debt from a subsidiary of Dutch financial services giant ING Groep. ING Real Estate Canada Trust is offering to pay $30 per unit for Summit and assume its existing debt. Summit said its board of trustees has determined that the offer is fair and is recommending that unitholders accept it.

Also Wednesday, Sears Holdings Corp. extended its $908 million privatization offer for Canadian subsidiary Sears Canada until Sept. 29, pending the outcome of its appeal of an Ontario Securities Commission decision that essentially halted the bid.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada said the economy slowed in the second quarter as real gross domestic product advanced 0.5%, following a robust 0.9% increase in the first quarter.

Economic activity in June was essentially unchanged from May, as the production of goods declined, offsetting gains in service industries, StatsCan said.

The Canadian dollar opened trading at US90.30¢, up 0.14 of a cent from Wednesday’s close.

South of the border, U.S. retailers posted mixed same-store sales for the month of August amid back-to-school season.

Light sweet crude for October delivery increased 38¢ to US$70.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, the European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold. Most European exchanges were lower after the ECB decision.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 268.74 points to close at 16,140.76 points.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 107.56 points to 17,392.27.

Toronto stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday despite continued losses in the energy sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index moved up 7.88 points, or 0.06%, to 12,068.36.

Seven of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, with the telecommunications services sector rising 1.15% and information technology increasing 0.72%.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index increased 4.74 to close at 2,680.53.

In New York, markets continued their upward trend on news that GDP growth in the spring was higher than earlier anticipated.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 12.97, or 0.11%, at 11,382.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 13.43 points, or 0.62%, to reach 2,185.73, and the S&P 500 Index lost a scanty 0.01 points to close at 1,304.27.