Stocks are poised for a stronger opening Thursday, following some good corporate and economic news and a slew of takeover announcement.

Germany’s SAP AG came out with higher than expected revenue numbers, boosting its shares and those of rival Oracle. Also, Wal-Mart reported a 2.3% rise in sales and projected stronger results for January.

On the economic front, U.S. initial jobless claims came in below the magic 400,000 mark last week. This has traders optimistic about the jobs situation..

In Canada, it was reported that municipalities issued $4 billion worth of building permits in November, down 2.7% from the record reached in October. Despite the decline, the level remained high, as construction intentions revolved around the $4 billion mark for the fourth time in the last five months.

It was also reported that the Help-wanted Index fell for the fifth consecutive month to 113.5, down 4.0% from November.

Also boosting the market is the fact that it’s Takeover Thursday today, with a slew of deals in the offing. William Morrison Supermarkets plc is offering US$6.5 billion for its larger rival, Safeway Supermarkets plc. U.S. Steel is buying most of the assets of bankrupt rival, National Steel Corp., for US$950 million in cash and stock. And, Merck & Co. has offered to take up the rest of Japan’s Banyu Pharmaceutical Co. for US$1.5 billion.

Canada’s only contribution to the M&A party is Open Text buying Eloquent Inc. for cash consideration of up to US$6.7 million.

Apart from all of this action, stocks are generally down in Europe. Traders there are more worried about the impact of rising unemployment on growth. And, Germany’s biggest retailer, Metro Group, reported lower than expected sales. As a result, the FTSE is down 24 points to 3,900. The CAC 40 has dropped 11 ticks to 3,082. And, the DAX is down 25 points to 2,968.

Stocks also slipped overnight in Asia. The Nikkei lost 20 points to close at 8,498. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up 13 points to finish at 9,675.

In other business news, Suncor Energy Inc. announced that its capital spending estimate for 2003 is $1.05 billion, with the majority of the investment allocated to the company’s oil sands business.