North American stocks are headed for a flat start Wednesday morning as U.S. markets wind down for the Thanksgiving holiday and investors respond to weak data on U.S. jobless claims.

In this morning’s economic news, the U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose by 30,000 to 335,000 in the week that ended November 19. The 30,000-claim increase, the biggest since the week of Sept. 10, was much higher than Wall Street expectations of an increase of 12,000.

A report on U.S. consumer sentiment due later this morning. The University of Michigan’s sentiment index is expected to rise to 80.8 for November.

In M&A news, Arcelor SA of Luxembourg said it will make a $4.3 billion cash takeover bid for Canadian steelmaker Dofasco, in what would be its biggest North American acquisition.

Arcelor is offering $56 per share, all cash, for Hamilton-based Dofasco’s 77.4 million outstanding common shares.

In today’s earnings news, TD Bank said its fourth-quarter earnings slipped to $589 million, from a year-ago $595 million, after a big tax charge for restructuring brokerage TD Waterhouse. Full-year profit was virtually unchanged at $2.23 billion.

In international banking news, Sovereign Bancorp of Philadelphia and Banco Santander Central Hispano agreed to amendments to their stock-sale deal, in a victory over dissident shareholders. The New York Stock Exchange ruled that the restructured deal doesn’t require a shareholder vote.

Research In Motion Ltd. has trimmed its third-and fourth-quarter subscriber forecasts, citing delays in launching two new BlackBerry handset models. RIM said Wednesday it now expects subscriber additions for the current third quarter to be about eight per cent lower than the previously forecast range of 680,000 to 710,000, announced in September. The fourth-quarter forecast dropped by about 3%.

Crude-oil prices fell 41 cents to US$58.43 a barrel in early trading Wednesday ahead of an oil inventory report.

Overseas, mergers and acquisitions helped drive European shares. Asian markets were mostly higher and the Japanese stock market was closed for a holiday.

The Canadian dollar opened at US85.14¢, up 0.01 of a cent.

Toronto stocks ended higher Tuesday as oil prices spiked for the second straight session. The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 75.41 points, or 0.70%, to 10,892.75.


The S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 3.15 points, or 0.16%, to 2,034.69.

In New York, markets were up, despite higher energy costs, as the U.S. Federal Reserve released the minutes of its Nov. 1 meeting in which board members discussed a possible end to the central bank’s string of rate hikes.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 51.15 points, or 0.47%, to 10,871.43. The S&P 500 added 6.38, or 0.51%, to 1,261.23, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 11.89, or 0.53%, to 2,253.56.