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Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital ManagementPawel Dwulit/The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market was little changed amid plans by Canadian Pacific's biggest shareholder to lighten its position and a setback for the telecom sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index edged up 2.71 points to 12,612.51 and the Canadian dollar was down 0.32 of a cent to 96.98 cents US.

Canadian Pacific Railway weighed on the TSX, down $4.81 to $130.69 after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management, CP's biggest shareholder, said Monday that it plans to sell up to seven million of the railway's shares over the next six to 12 months. RBC Capital Markets cut CP's shares to underperform from sector perform following Pershing Square's announcement.

The telecom sector was also in focus after federal Industry Minister Christian Paradis said Mobilicity and other new wireless carriers won't be allowed to transfer spectrum to other carriers. The minister's announcement Tuesday will be a setback for Telus which had asked permission to acquire unused spectrum from Mobilicity. Telus dipped 12 cents to $35.67.

New York's Dow Jones industrials gained 25.67 points to 15,279.7, the Nasdaq rose 9.67 points to 3,475.04 and the S&P 500 index was up 4.09 points to 1,644/51.

Shares of Zynga Inc. could be in the spotlight a day after the online gaming company announced its biggest ever round of layoffs and warned of weak bookings for the current quarter. The stock was flat in premarket trade.

Web-based software maker Salesforce.com Inc said it would buy marketing software provider ExactTarget for $2.5 billion. Salesforce.com is seeking to build a marketing platform that will tap increasing use of mobile devices and social networks. Salesforce.com shares lost 3.5 percent in premarket trade.

U.S. regulators proposed designating American International Group Inc., Prudential Financial Inc. and GE Capital for heightened regulatory oversight in a long-anticipated move aimed at cracking down on risks to markets.

FedEx Corp. said on Monday it will permanently retire or will hasten the retirement of 86 aircraft and more than 300 engines as the package delivery company modernizes its fleet.

With files from Reuters

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