North American stocks appear set to open flat Monday ahead of the start of quarterly earnings season. Dow component Alcoa reports after the closing bell today.

While not as busy as previous recent Mondays, markets will have a couple of mergers and acquisitions to consider.

Over the weekend, J.P. Morgan Chase and the Bank of New York agreed on an asset swap in which J.P. Morgan will offer US$150 million and its corporate trust business to the Bank of New York, which will lose 338 branches to Chase.

Global markets will be closed this Friday for Easter’s Good Friday holiday.

The Canadian dollar opened at US87.18, up 0.12 of a cent.

Crude-oil prices rose Monday as market participants fretted over supply threats posed by Iran’s nuclear standoff with the international community. Light sweet crude for May delivery rose 37¢ to US$67.76 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.

In overseas markets, Serono tumbled after the Swiss biotech gave up on its plan to sell itself and instead said it would consider acquisitions of its own, while Compass Group rose in London after selling its roadside restaurant unit for US$3.2 billion.

The UK’s FTSE 100 added 0.2%, and other European markets edged higher.

Asian markets ended mostly lower, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo declining 0.6%.

On Friday Toronto stocks tumbled, as resource stocks and information technology issues lost ground.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 100.81, or 0.82%, to 12,241.21. Despite Friday losses, the senior exchange gained almost 1.08% for the week.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index ended flat, losing 0.45 to 3,037.37.

In New York, a strong employment report gave rise to inflation worries, resulting in a sell-off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.46 points to 11,120.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 22.15 points at 2,339.02. The S&P 500 Index dropped 13.54 points to 1,295.50.

On the week, the Dow gained a modest 0.1%, the Nasdaq was flat, and the S&P500 nudged ahead nearly 0.1%.