Wall Street stock futures pointed moderately lower Wednesday, ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, while Canadian investors will be digesting news that the buyout of BCE Inc. may not proceed.

The $52 billion privatization of BCE could be facing another major hurdle, as KPMG has told the company it may not be able to deliver a positive solvency opinion by the Dec. 11 closing date.

BCE said Wednesday that if KPMG can’t deliver that positive opinion on time, then the transaction for Canada’s biggest telecommunications company to be taken over by an investor group led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is unlikely to proceed.

The Canadian dollar opened at US81.71¢, up 0.08 cent.

South of the border, demand for expensive goods took its biggest spill in two years in October and consumption dropped at the sharpest rate in seven years. Meanwhile, jobless claims fell slightly but remain at elevated levels.

Orders for durable goods decreased by 6.2% last month to a seasonally adjusted US$193.02 billion, the third tumble in a row, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Separately, U.S. personal income rose at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.3% in October compared to the month before, Commerce said. Income increased a revised 0.1% in September; originally, income for that month was seen 0.2% higher.

October personal consumption fell 1% compared to the month before. Spending dropped an unrevised 0.3% in September. It dropped 0.1% in August and 0.1% in July. The 1.0% drop in spending was the largest since 1.2% in September 2001.

Meanwhile, U.S. initial jobless claims fell 14,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 529,000 in the week ended Nov. 22, the U.S. Labor Department said. The previous week’s level was the highest in 16 years.

In earnings news, luxury goods company Tiffany & Co. warned ethat 2008 results will be below Wall Street expectations, though it posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit.

Overseas, the European Commission unveiled two-year European Economic Recovery Plan worth 200 billion euros (US$256.2 billion) that calls on the 27 EU governments to spend more to halt the accelerating economic slowdown that has pushed some European nations into recession.

The FTSE dropped 2.8% in London.

In Asia, markets closed mixed, with the Nikkei falling 1.3% as exporters lost ground on a strengthened yen, while Hong Kong jumped 3.8%.

In commodities news, light, sweet crude rose 75 cents to $51.52 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On Tuesday, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s main index finished flat, following two days of big gains, as advances in energy and financial stocks were offset by declines in materials and technology shares.

The S&P/TSX composite index edged up 1.99 points, or, 0.02%, at 8,442.86.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 2.83 points, or 0.39%, to end at 719.96.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 36.08 points, or 0.43%, to 8,479.47. The S&P 500 rose 5.58 points, or 0.66%, to 857.39. But the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index shed 7.29 points, or 0.50%, to 1,464.73.

IE