North American stocks are likely to open on a mixed note Monday amid a decline in crude-oil prices and merger activity.

Oil prices fell 93¢ to $65.32 a barrel early Monday. Oil markets were in focus as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries met in Vienna. OPEC was expected to leave oil production quotas unchanged.

In this morning’s economic news, Statistics Canada said industrial capacity utilization fell slightly for the third straight quarter between April and June, due to lower foreign demand and a slowdown in the housing market.

The Canadian dollar opened at US89.41¢, up 0.14 of a cent.

In M&A news, steelmaker Ipsco reached a definitive agreement to buy steel-tube maker NS Group for US$1.46 billion, forming a larger company with a focus on the booming oil and natural-gas industries.

Barrick Gold Corp. announced plans to sell its 50% stake in South Africa’s South Deep mine. The deal with South African miner Gold Fields Ltd. is worth more than US$1.5 billion, Barrick Gold said today in a statement.

The Nasdaq Stock Market is in preliminary takeover talks with Scandinavian stock exchange operator OMX, though the U.S. exchange is still keen on pursuing the London Stock Exchange, according to a report.

Life reinsurer Scottish Re said it’s received a number of potential bid proposals and has provided a number of parties with due diligence information.

Overseas, European shares were under pressure at midday on Monday as lower commodity stocks weighed on indexes.

The Nikkei 225 index fell 286.08 points, or 1.78%, to 15,794.38 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 197.17 points, or 1.2%, to 16,948.59.

Toronto stocks closed lower Friday, ending a bleak week with yet further losses, as sinking commodity prices weighed down the wider market.

The S&P/TSX composite index moved down 25.45, or 0.21%, to 11,869.59. It was the third day of declines, but the fall was much smaller than in the previous two days.

The market lost 275 points for the shortened week. The market was closed on Monday for Labour Day.

Seven of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with the energy index fell 1.48%.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index fell 20.72, or 0.76%, to 2,717.82.

In New York, markets closed Friday on a high note, erasing some of the losses posted earlier in the week, as investors cheered lower oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60.67 points to 11,392.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 10.50 points at 2,165.79. The S&P 500 Index climbed 4.90 points to 1,298.92.

For the week, the Dow Jones fell 0.6%, the Nasdaq declined 1.25%, and the S&P500 gave up 0.9%.