North American stocks look poised to open lower Monday morning amid a spate of merger activity and sharply declining online gambling stocks.

British online gambling shares plummeted Monday, likely to be followed by their North American counterparts, after the U.S. Congress passed legislation prohibiting the use of credit cards, checks and electronic fund transfers for online gaming.

PartyGaming, the world’s biggest online gambling company, said it would pull out of the United States if President Bush signs the legislation into law.

In today’s M&A action, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., the largest casino company in the U.S., is reported to be in talks with private-equity firms interested in purchasing the company in what would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts ever.

Harrah’s has a market value of about US$12.34 billion and US $10.2 billion in debt, according to the report.

Also, large biotech firm Gilead Sciences Inc. announced it is buying Myogen Inc. for US$2.5 billion.

In earnings news, packaging maker Intertape Polymer Group Inc. issued a warning on its third quarter revenues while the company said it plans to explore and evaluate various strategic and financial alternatives, which could include a sale or possible merger.

The Canadian dollar opened Monday at US89.54¢, up 0.07 of a cent from Friday’s close.

Oil prices rose Monday in Asia after two key oil producing nations said they were cutting oil production, raising concerns that other members of the OPEC oil cartel would do the same.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery rose 12¢ to US$63.03 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Economic data are due on U.S. construction spending and pending homes sales in August. The Institute of Supply Management’s poll on manufacturing for September is also slated for release. The reports are due at 10:00 ET.

Overseas, France’s CAC 40 index fell 1.96 points to 5,248.05, the London-based FTSE 100 climbed ahead 4.3 points to 5,965.10 and Germany’s DAX was down 6.25 at 5,998.08.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index advanced 126.71 points to finish at 16,254.29 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the highest close since September 6.

Financial markets in Hong Kong were closed for the National Day holiday.

On Friday, Toronto stocks fell Friday, ending a streak of four consecutive positive sessions, as a strong day in the information technology sector couldn’t offset a negative session in the broader market.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 56.17, or 0.48%, to 11,761.27.

Shares in Research in Motion Inc. soared $19.29, or 20.24%, to $114.59 as the Waterloo-based firm released strong quarterly earnings.

The S&P TSX Venture Exchange gained 13.47, or 0.55%, to 2,479.52.

In New York, markets were lower as investors took profits on recent gains.

The Dow industrials closed down 39.38 points at 11,679.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 11.59 points to 2,258.43 while the S&P 500 Index lost 3.30 points to end at 1,335.85.

For the third quarter, the Dow gained 4.7%, the Nasdaq rose 4%, the S&P500 advanced 5.2%.