North American tocks are set to open little changed Wednesday as US Airways Group launched an US$8 billion offer for Delta Air Lines.

US Airways is going around management and directly to the company’s creditors with its offer to buy the larger airline when it exits bankruptcy-court protection. US Airways is offering US$4 billion in cash and 78.5 million shares of US Airways stock, according to a securities filing by Delta.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada reported that factory shipments declined to their lowest level in nearly two years in September, in part the result of sluggish activity in the transportation sector and lower prices for petroleum and coal products.

Canadian manufacturers shipped goods worth $47.9 billion, down 3.3% from August and the lowest level since December 2004. It was the second monthly decline in a row and the fastest rate of decline in shipments since August 2003.

The Canadian dollar opened at US87.77¢, down 0.09 of a cent.

South of the border, Investors will turn their attention to minutes of the last Fed meeting for hints on what the central bank may do in 2007. The minutes are due for release at 14:00 ET.

In financial news, Deutsche Boerse AG on Wednesday dropped its more than eight-billion-euro (US$10.26-billion) bid to buy Euronext NV, dealing a blow to its hope of building a pan-European stock exchange.

In earnings news, supermarket chain Metro Inc. said its fourth-quarter profit jumped 57% to $78.9 million, from a year-earlier $50.2 million, as the acquisition of A&P Canada led to record annual earnings.

Tyco International said its fourth-quarter net income grew 38%.

Limited Brands and Applied Materials will report results after the close of trading.

Crude-oil prices rose 15¢ to US$58.43 a barrel ahead of weekly inventory data expected to show growing crude inventories and declining product supplies.

European stock markets were higher. The CAC-40 rose 0.3% in Paris.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 46.08 points, or 0.28%, to 16,243.47 points.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 214.58 points, or 1.14%, to close at 19,093.

Toronto stocks ended lower Tuesday, as falling resource prices weighed down the broader market.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 29.81, or 0.24%, to 12,279.59.

It was the third losing session in a row for the benchmark index.

Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups ended higher, but the energy sector fell 0.93%.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index was off 40.06 points, or 1.51%, to 2,608.83.

In New York, markets surged to historic highs on strong corporate earnings from Wal-Mart and Intel, as well as economic data suggesting inflation was in check.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 86.13 points, or 0.71%, to close at 12,218.01, besting the all-time high-water mark of 12,196.32. The Nasdaq composite index rose 24.28, or 1.01%, to 2,430.66, while the S&P 500 index gained 8.80, or 0.64%, to 1,393.22.