Markets are facing a weak opening this morning, as traders begin facing up to more of the fallout from last week’s attacks on the United States.

AMR Corp. is warning about the impact of the attack on its business, while FedEx Corp. has reported profits down 36% before the attack.

As well, a couple of big reinsurers, Munich Re and Swiss Reinsurance Co., have almost doubled their expected liability for the attacks to US$3.25 billion.

Stocks are sliding hard again in Europe on the news. The FTSE is down another 129 points to 4,593. The CAC 40 is off 127 points to 3,762. The DAX is down 111 points to 3,931.

Overnight in Asia, stocks also failed to follow on late strength in the U.S. Traders sold off the Nikkei by 154 points to 9,785. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng shed 240 points to 9,318.

Bad news for the airlines continues, with British Airways plc, Europe’s largest carrier, cutting 12.5% of its workforce, or 7,000 jobs. U.S. airlines may be in line for US$5 billion in aid from the government.

In economic news, initial jobless claims slipped in the U.S. by 49,000 last week, although the attack likely disrupted filings. Also, building permits were reported lower.

In Canada, July saw wholesale sales fall 0.4%, matched by an equal drop in wholesale inventories. This drop in sales followed two consecutive monthly increases. Wholesale sales fell to $32.9 billion in July.

The largest declines in dollar terms were in the automotive, and industrial machinery sectors. Notable declines were also seen in household goods, agricultural machinery, and lumber and building materials.

It was also reported that labour productivity in the business sector rose 0.4% in the second quarter of 2001 over the first, after declining slightly in the first quarter (-0.1%) and in the fourth quarter of 2000 (-0.6%).

Quarterly growth in total hours worked fell a full percentage point in the second quarter to -0.4%. This drop in total hours worked, the first since the first quarter of 1995, resulted from a steeper decline in hours worked per job and lower growth rate in the number of jobs.

In earnings news, Wescam reported net earnings of $4.7 million or 30¢ per share so far this year, compared with $4.9 million for the nine months of fiscal 2000.

In M&A news, Rider Resources Inc. is buying Circle Energy Inc. on the basis of 0.42 of a Rider share for every Circle share.

Plaintree Systems Inc. has signed a binding letter of intent to acquire the assets of LaserWireless Inc. of Lancaster, Pa. LaserWireless develops the LaserBridge Free Space Optical communications system that provides network connectivity.

The purchase price for the LaserWireless assets is US$2.3 million payable by 7.5 million shares out of the treasury of Plaintree. Plaintree has agreed to assume certain liabilities of LaserWireless, up to US$200,000.