U.S. stock futures edged lower Monday ahead of the latest round of U.S. housing data and amid merger deals.

U.S. Steel Corp. has agreed to buy Stelco Inc. for $38.50 in cash per share or about $1.1 billion, the companies announced Monday morning. Hamilton-based Stelco is the last of the major Canadian steelmakers.

Taiwan’s Acer agreed to acquire the U.S. personal-computer maket Gateway for about US$710 million. T
U.S. housing data will remain in focus Monday, with the July figures on existing-home sales due out at 10:00 ET. Economists are expecting sales to fall slightly to 5.7 million.

Home Depot agreed to sell its struggling wholesale supply unit for US$8.5 billion, or roughly 18% less than it had previously agreed.

In today’s earnings news, Desjardins Financial Security said its second-quarter profit rose 77% to $68.4 million from a year-earlier $38.7 million. The insurer, owned by the Desjardins Group financial services firm, said its insurance premium income was up 12.4% to $598.1 million, whiles sales for the quarter totalled $112 million.

In other financial news, two major Canadian mortgage bankers say they have temporarily suspended subprime lending in Canada. MCAP Financial, which provides mortgage financing through brokers and is a partner of the Bank of Montreal and insurance giant Clarica, says it has temporarily stopped financing subprime loans through its Eclipse division. GMAC Residential Funding also confirmed it will no longer extend subprime mortgages.

Crude-oil prices rose 16¢ to JS$71.25 a barrel in electronic trading.

Overseas, the French CAC 40 index added 0.8%, while the United Kingdom market remained closed for a public holiday.

The Toronto stock market advanced Friday as investors snapped up resource shares.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 69.22 points, or 0.51%, to close at 13,520.33. It was up 3.6% for the week.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index surged 52.88 points, or 2.04%, to finish at 2,639.48.

In New York, U.S. stocks climbed as surprisingly strong data on home sales and factory orders relieved bolstered investor confidence.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 142.99 points, or 1.08%, at 13,378.87. The S&P 500 was up 16.87 points, or 1.15%, at 1,479.37. The Nasdaq composite index was up 34.99 points, or 1.38%, at 2,576.69.

For the week, the S&P 500 was up 2.3%. The Nasdaq was up 2.9% and the Dow was up 2.3%.