Source: The Canadian Press

North American stock markets appeared poised to open lower as investors respond to concerns about the fallout over Goldman Sachs being charged last week with civil fraud.

The Dow Jones industrial futures dipped 54 points to 10,930, the Nasdaq futures were down 10 points to 1,999.75 and the S&P 500 futures were off 6.60 points to 1,183.70.

Investors are concerned about potential long-term repercussions tied to the charges against Goldman. The civil suit comes just as Congress is taking up a bill to overhaul regulating the financial sector, including risky securities like those at the centre of the Goldman case.

Financial stocks could continue to struggle in the coming days because of uncertainty about new potential regulations in light of the Goldman charges and whether the SEC might investigate other banks that traded similar securities.

Another busy week of earnings reports started with Citigroup Inc., which reported a surprise first-quarter profit of US$4.4 billion after dividend payments as trading revenue offset losses from failed loans. The results provided more evidence that big U.S. banks may have turned a corner.

Other earnings results are due from International Business Machines Corp. Monday, while Goldman reports first-quarter results Tuesday along with Apple Inc. and Coca-Cola Co.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.50 of a cent to 98.2 cents US.

The May crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was US$81.08 a barrel, down $2.16.

The June bullion contract on the Nymex fell back $3.20 to US$1,132.70.

In corporate news, CAE Inc. (TSX:CAE) has acquired The Datamine Group, a U.K.-based global supplier of software and services for the mining sector, for an undisclosed price.

TD Bank (TSX:TD) announced Friday it has acquired three insolvent Florida banks seized by U.S. regulators: Riverside National Bank of Florida, First Federal Bank of North Florida and AmericanFirst Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., for an undisclosed price.

World markets are also being dragged down by new measures in China to curb speculative real estate investing.

China said over the weekend it would take more steps to level off real estate prices, which have been rising sharply for months. The government is concerned about speculative bubbles forming and bursting as its economy continues to grow rapidly.

New restrictions might include clamping down on lending to buyers who already own two or more homes. In recent months, China has increased the minimum amount of money banks must hold to slow down lending.

Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 39.70 points to 5,704.26, Germany’s DAX index fell 24.58 points to 6,156.32, and France’s CAC-40 fell 27.50 to 3,959.13. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.1% and Japan’s Nikkei stock average tumbled 1.7%.