Markets in Canada’s biggest centre looked set for a higher start on Wednesday, with September futures up 0.2%.
The S&P/TSX composite index hiked 65.14 points to end Tuesday at 15,315.13
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.18 cents to 93.31 cents U.S. early Wednesday
BCE Inc, Canada's largest telecommunications company, said it would take Bell Aliant private by buying the stake it does not already own in the company.
Enbridge Inc may build a 140,000-barrel-per-day unit train unloading terminal in Pontiac, Illinois, to relieve congestion on its crude oil export network.
Spanish oil company Repsol SA is considering a bid for Talisman Energy Inc, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Raymond James cut the rating on Norbord to market perform from outperform
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that retail sales in May increased 0.7% to $42.0 billion in May, with gains reported in seven of 11 subsectors, representing 56% of retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.34 points Tuesday to 1,010.82.
ON WALLSTREET
Geopolitical risks are fading further Wednesday, allowing investors to focus on improving company earnings and taking the Dow and S&P toward record highs.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials picked up 12 points, or 0.1%, to 17.045. Futures for the S&P 500 gained 2.75 points, or 0.1%, to 1,977.75, and futures for the NASDAQ increased 12.25 points, or 0.3%, to 3,962.75.
Investors will have plenty of earnings to digest Wednesday, as Boeing and Delta Air Lines will report earnings before the opening bell.
Dow Chemical reported an uptick in sales, compared to the year-ago quarter, but net income plunged. PepsiCo also reported a drop in profit.
AT&T and Facebook will report after the close.
Shares of Apple slipped in pre-market trading, as the company reported a jump in sales and profit for the last quarter, but lowered sales projections for the current quarter. Microsoft sales beat Wall Street expectations, sending its shares up pre-market.
Deutsche Bank shares fell 1.6% in Frankfurt trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that the New York Federal Reserve had serious concerns about internal supervision and regulation at the bank's U.S. operations.
Major indexes across Europe were firmer after European Union officials stopped short of imposing tough economic sanctions on Moscow.
Still, the relief could be short-lived as Europe demanded Russia's "full and immediate" cooperation over Ukraine or risk losing access to European finance, defense equipment and energy technology.
Germany's DAX gained 0.4%, while Russia's Micex index slipped 0.3%, taking its losses for the year to nearly 7%.
Asian markets were mainly firmer. Indonesia markets were helped by news that former Jakarta governor Joko Widodo had won the presidential election.
Oil prices notched ahead seven cents to $102.46 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $2.30 to $1,308.60 U.S. an ounce.
