North American markets look set to climb at Monday’s open, with merger activity heating up on Wall Street.

Reports this morning suggest E*Trade Financial has formally expressed an interest in buying rival Ameritrade Holding, in a move that could further consolidate the already-shrinking world of online trading,.

Duke Energy has agreed to acquire Cinergy for about US$9 billion in stock. The combination will form an energy concern with US$36 billion in market capitalization and 5.4 million retail customers.

In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department is due to release wholesale inventory data for March at 10:00 ET. Economists’ estimates center on a 1.0% increase.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

In this morning’s earnings news, Alcan said higher aluminum prices and the benefits of integrating Europe’s Pechiney group helped the company more than double its first-quarter net profit to US$218 million.

Ensign Resource Service Group Inc. reported record first-quarter profit of $67.3 million, up from $53.3 million a year earlier.

On Friday, a third consecutive day of rising oil prices helped Toronto markets close out the week in positive territory, while U.S. markets limped to a mixed finish.

At close, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 46.47 points or 0.49% to 9,522.74. That was a gain of 1.6% on the week.

The TSX Venture composite index closed up 12.05 points or 0.72% to 1,695.45.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrials finished up only 5.05 points or 0.05% to 1,035.40, up 1.5% on the week. The Nasdaq composite added 5.55 points or 0.28% to 1,967.35, while the S&P 500 index slipped 0.75 of a point or 0.06% 1,171.35.