North American stocks are poised to climb Monday as oil prices retreat.

Crude oil for August delivery shed $1.10 to US$58.53 a barrel, marking the third consecutive trading day that oil prices have receded as Hurricane Dennis missed rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, easing concern about disruption to U.S. supplies.

European markets were mostly higher at midday. In London, the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100-share index was up 0.2% to 5243.80, as market activity largely returned to normal following Thursday’s bomb attacks on three of London’s subway trains and one bus.

In this morning’s economic news, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said that housing starts rose to the highest level yet this year in June.

Builders were producing homes at an annual rate of 237,200 units, up 7.2% from 221,300 units in May.

In today’s business news, Stephen Crawford gas resigned as co-president of Morgan Stanley, the firm said. Zoe Cruz has been named acting president at the Wall Street brokerage firm. The moves come shortly after the appointment of John Mack as CEO and chairman

Unocal Corp. said it is selling Canadian subsidiary Northrock Resources Ltd. to Pogo Producing Co. of Houston for US$1.8 billion in cash. California-based Unocal said Monday it expects to realize after-tax proceeds of about US$1.5 billion.

On Friday, North American markets posted strong gains.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 56.86, or 0.56%, to 10,177.86.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 5.79, or 0.34%, to 1,731.99.

In New York, all three major indices posted impressive gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 146.85, or 1.43%, to close 10,449.14; the Nasdaq composite index advanced 37.22, or 1.79%, to finish 2,112.86; and the S&P 500 index gained 13.99, or 1.17%, to end 1,211.86.

For the week, the Dow was up 1.41%, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.46%, and the Nasdaq gained 2.70%.