Stocks may open lower Wednesday, with investors taking profits after Tuesday’s rally.

In economic news, U.S. durable goods orders declined 2.9% to US$191.3 billion last month, the Commerce Department said today. Non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft — a barometer of business spending — fell 3.5%, after shooting up 6% in March.

The report showed March demand increased 5.7% as opposed to a previously reported 5% advance. February orders were unrevised at a 3.9% increase.

The projection for April durables was far weaker than expected on Wall Street. Economists had forecast orders down 0.5%.

There are no major economic data releases from Statistics Canada this morning.

In this morning’s business news, Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to buy US$34 billion in assets managed by Strong Financial Corp. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal includes US$27 billion in assets in 70 mutual funds, the companies said. The acquisition will bring San Francisco-based Wells Fargo’s total assets under management to US$217 billion. Mutual fund assets would climb to US$103 billion, ranking among the top 20 mutual fund companies in the U.S., Wells Fargo said.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei advanced 189.36 points, or 1.72% to 11,152.09 points, as investors bought shares of leading Japanese exporters and technology companies.

Financial markets in Hong Kong and were closed Wednesday for public holidays.

On Tuesday, a drop in oil prices from recent record highs sent Toronto stocks sharply higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index surged ahead 143.74 points to 8,354.22. High oil prices translated into a 2.25% gain for the TSX energy sector.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 21.92 points at 1,602.27.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 159.19 points and close at 10,117.62. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite raced ahead 41.67 points to 1,964.65. The broader S&P 500 index advanced 17.64 to 1,113.05.