Wall Street was celebrating the news of a massive all-cash corporate takeover proposal in the beer industry Thursday morning, while oil prices pulled back.

Anheuser-Busch Cos., America's biggest beer maker, disclosed late Wednesday it had received a US$46-billion buyout offer from Belgian-headquartered InBev SA.

The bid of US$65 a share for the maker of Budweiser represents an 11 per cent premium over Wednesday's closing price of $58.35, which has been boosted by recent takeover speculation.

Crude oil prices receded as the U.S. dollar gained strength. The near-month contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down $2.86 at US$133.52 a barrel, following a sharp rise of $5.07 per barrel Wednesday on news of a sharp decline in U.S. crude inventories.

"The underlying sentiment is probably bullish in the near term due to concerns in the supply side," said David Moore, a commodity strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

The Canadian dollar opened at 97.65 cents US, down 0.39 cent as the American dollar rose against other major currencies.