U.S. stock futures reversed early gains Monday, as investors reacted to a disappointing report from Lowe’s amid news of a potential bailout of bond insurer Ambac.

Home-improvement chain Lowe’s said its fourth-quarter net income slumped 33% on continued sales weakness, which it expects to persist for several more quarters.

The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that Ambac has inched closer to an agreement with a consortium of banks on plans to restructure the company and raise roughly US$3 billion of capital.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US99.48¢ this morning, up two-thirds of a cent from Friday’s close.

U.S. data on existing-home sales for January is due out at 10:00 ET.

Speeches from U.S. Federal Reserve Governors Randall Kroszner and Frederic Mishkin are scheduled for Monday. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will also deliver remarks.

In M&A news, Visa Inc. has disclosed in a government filing it estimates it will raise almost US$18.8 billion from an initial public offering.

Electronic Arts Sunday unveiled a US$2 billion unsolicited bid to buy Take-Two Interactive Software — its second offer in recent weeks, and one that again was rebuffed by the maker of Grand Theft Auto video games.

In other market news, Deutsche Bank cut its rating on auto maker General Motors to hold from buy on fears that “the cyclical North American downturn could be deeper and more protracted than previously expected.”

Light sweet crude oil for April delivery rose 35¢ to US$99.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.

Overseas, the Nikkei closed 3.07% higher in Tokyo. In London, the FTSE 100 rose 1.75%, while Paris’s CAC 40 advanced 1.85% and Frankfurt’s DAX gained 1.28%.

On Friday, the S&P/TSX Composite index closed up 76.36 points, or 0.56%, to end the day at 13,585.91.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index retreated 3.66 points, or 0.14%, to close at 2,657.15.

In New York, markets recovered from a day of losses with a quick afternoon rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 96.72 points, or 0.79%, to end the session at 12,381.02.

The S&P 500 closed up 10.58 points, or 0.79%, at 1,353.11.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 3.57 points, or 0.16%, to finish at 2,303.35.

For the week, the Dow finished up 0.27% and the S&P 500 gained 0.23%, but the Nasdaq declined 0.79%.