North American stocks look set to open higher Thursday after the U.S. Independence Day break.

Hotel stocks are set to advance after a takeover bid for Hilton Hotels. Blackstone Group late Tuesday said it has agreed to buy Hilton Hotels for US$20 billion, or US$47.50 a share, a 40% premium to Hilton’s closing price.

In economic news, construction sites in Western Canada will be humming this summer as the value of building permits, a leading indicator for construction activity, surged to its highest monthly level ever in May.

Municipalities issued a total of $6.8 billion worth of permits, up 21.4% from April, Statistics Canada reported today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US94.48¢, up 0.02 of a cent.

Later this morning, the Institute of Supply Management’s nonmanufacturing poll for June is due; it could show a slight decline in U.S. services sector sentiment.

In other M&A news, Apollo made a US$6.34 billion offer for chemical producer Huntsman. The $27.25 per-share offer trumped the US$5.6 billion, or $25.25 a share, agreement struck between Huntsman and Dutch chemicals company Basell International Holdings.

Jones Apparel Group received a US$900 million unsolicited non-binding proposal for its Barneys New York division from Japanese clothing company Fast Retailing.

Crude-oil futures rose 55¢ to US$71.96 a barrel before inventory data.

The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.75% Thursday, the fifth increase in less than a year as the central bank tries to contain surging inflation and a booming housing market.

Today’s move by the bank’s monetary policy committee had been widely expected.

The FTSE 100 in London was slightly lower as a result.

The European Central Bank, however, left interest rates unchanged, as expected.

Asian markets were mixed.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index added 34.44 points, or 0.2%, to 22,252.99.

On the Chinese mainland, stocks tumbled amid worries about possible government tightening measures and the concerns about the slew of new share listings. The Shanghai composite index fell 5.3% to 3,615.87.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index climbed 52.76 points, or 0.29%, to close at 18,221.48.

Toronto stocks finished flat after a quiet trading session Wednesday with U.S. markets closed for the Independence Day holiday.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed 4.35 points lower at 14,060.39.

Volume was much lower than average with 163.5 million shares changing hands.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 4.76 points to 3,207.55.