North American stocks are expected to open lower Wednesday on renewed concerns over the health of the U.S. mortgage market.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US94.03¢, up 0.29 of a cent.

South of the border, traders will be watching for July auto sales results that are released throughout the day. June pending home sales data are due, as is the Institute for Supply Management’s July U.S. manufacturing survey.

In today’s earnings news, BCE reported a 40% increase in second-quarter net earnings, boosted by an asset sale and mobile-phone growth, amid a $51.7 billion takeover move led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Enbridge said its second-quarter profit declined to $146.5 million from a year-earlier $157.9 million, when there had been a major tax gain.

In M&A news, British Columbia Investment Management Corp. has struck a $1.2 billion deal to acquire Canadian Hotel Income Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, offering $19.10 per unit. Under banners that include Delta, Radisson, Marriott and Hilton, CHIP REIT owns and manages 32 hotels with about 7,700 guest rooms.

Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal, confirmed it has agreed to be bought by Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate News Corp.

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. reported Anglo American PLC is making a staged investment of US$1.4 billion for a potential 50% partnership in the Pebble mining project in southwestern Alaska.

Crude oil futures slipped 47¢ to US$77.74 a barrel in pre-opening trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Later today, the government will release data on last week’s crude and gasoline inventories.

Overseas, the UK’s FTSE 100 fell 1.95%, Germany’s DAX index fell 1.43% and France’s CAC-40 fell 2.02%.

Asian markets tumbled overnight after U.S. stocks plunged Tuesday. Japanese stocks sank 2.2%, Hong Kong’s market fell 3.2% and South Korean shares plunged 4%.

The Toronto stock market ended flat on Tuesday as a surge in the price of oil and a takeover deal for Western Oil Sands offset weakness in telecoms and a plunge in Rogers Communications.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 3.91 points at 13,868.63.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index advanced 12.76 points, or 0.40%, to end at 3,192.72.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks tumbled as worries about the deteriorating credit market resurfaced.

Monday’s relief rally was cut short when American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. said it may have to liquidate assets. Shares of the mortgage lender fell 90%.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 146.32 points, or 1.10%, to 13,211.99. For the month, the Dow was down 1.5%.

The S&P 500 fell 18.64 points, or 1.26%, to 1,455.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index slumped 37.01 points, or 1.43%, to 2,546.27. For July, the Nasdaq was down 2.2%.