Stocks are looking to open weaker Wednesday, with renewed investor fears about corporate accounting. U.S. futures are down on concerns about the quality of the accounting at firms such as Siebel Systems Inc., Interpublic Group of Cos. and El Paso Corp.

In economic news, U.S. housing starts were reported down 11.4% to their lowest level this year.

In Europe, stocks are already down today. The Bank of England is backing away from the possibility of future rate cuts, saying that the economy appears to be accelerating its growth. Still, recovery concerns are hurting firms such as Deutsche Bank AG and Carrefour SA. The FTSE is down five ticks to 4,091. The CAC 40 has dropped 44 points to 3,134. And, the DAX is off by 71 points to 3,136.

Overnight in Asia, stocks gained once again. the Nikkei jumped 94 points to 8,460. The Hang Seng finished six ticks higher at 9,971.

In M&A news, France Telecom SA is said to be in talks to sell a Dutch cable-TV business to a group of investors, including Carlyle Group Inc. and Providence Equity Partners Inc. after an earlier offer from Liberty Media Corp. fell through.

Other merger talk has SBC Communications Inc. possibly selling its Sterling Commerce unit to Bain Capital Inc.

And, the European Commission has halted its antitrust review of Pfizer Inc.’s US$60 billion acquisition of Pharmacia Corp. It is seeking more information about the deal.

In earnings news, Oncolytics Biotech Inc. reported a net loss of $1,989,883, compared to a net loss of $2,445,661 for the same period in 2001.