North American stocks are set to head higher Wednesday morning, lifted by much stronger-than-expected data on U.S. durable-goods orders.

Early Wednesday, the U.S. Commerce Department said August durable-goods orders rose a seasonally adjusted 3.3% to US$210.86 billion.

Economists had expected the orders for goods designed to last at least three years to rise a modest 0.5% last month after a revised plunge of 5.3% in July. July orders were originally seen dropping 4.9%.

Crude oil prices edged lower Wednesday ahead of a U.S. petroleum inventory report that is expected to show a dip in crude, gasoline and distillate stocks because of production shutdowns from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery dropped 7¢ to US$65.00 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

In business news, General Motors and the Canadian Auto Workers union on Tuesday night tentatively agreed to a three-year contract, avoiding a potentially costly strike.

In M&A news, Wine producer Vincor International said it has turned down as “inadequate and not in the best interests of shareholders” an unsolicited acquisition offer from Constellation Brands valued at $1.4 billion.

The U.S. wine and spirits company announced late Tuesday it would pay $31 a share in cash for Vincor, Canada’s biggest wine producer,

On Tuesday, Toronto stocks ended higher, powered for a change by the financials group, rather than the energy sector, which has largely fuelled the market this year.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 61.70, or 0.56%, to 11,067.17

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange closed up 8.40 points, or 0.41%, to 2,078.33.

In New York, markets ended mixed as sobering economic figures were offset by encouraging words from U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan who said the U.S. economy was strong enough to absorb the financial shocks delivered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.58 to 10,456.21, the S&P500 index rose 0.03 to 1,215.66, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.04 to 2,116.42.