North American stocks appear poised to open higher Monday, helped by merger-and-acquisition news, as well as a decline in crude-oil futures.

Crude-oil futures were trading lower, dipping 86¢ to US$62.05 in electronic trading, following Friday’s $2.37 surge on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada said Canada’s current account surplus with the rest of the world increased $5.5 billion in the fourth quarter, reaching a new high of $13.3 billion, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

In the capital and financial account (not seasonally adjusted), growth in Canada’s international assets, which came from both portfolio and direct investments, outpaced increases in Canadian international liabilities.

The Canadian dollar opened at US87.11¢, up 0.06 of a cent.

In M&A news, General Electric and an investment fund of Australia’s Macquarie Bank are each vying to purchase a big stake in TXU’s electricity-delivery business, according to news reports. The transaction could be valued in the range of US$5 billion or more. Separately, GE also said it will sell off its remaining stake in Genworth Financial.

After days of reported talks, British utility National Grid said it agreed to acquire utility and natural-gas distributor KeySpan for US$7.3 billion and the assumption of debt estimated at $4.5 billion. The acquisition is to be completed by early next year.
In Canadian business news, Alcan Inc. has agreed to sell some of its North American plastic-bottle business to Ball Corp. for US$180 million in cash.

Overseas, European equities traded flat, with gains by utilities offset by losses in the telecommunications sector after Vodafone Group said it may write off up to US$49 billion in goodwill. In deal activity, Suez and Gaz de France agreed to join forces, thwarting Italy’s Enel expansion strategy.

In Asia, both the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed higher.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 91.04 points, or 0.6%, to finish at 16,192.95.

The Hang Seng Index rose 93,84 points, or 0.6%, to 15,949.89.

Toronto stocks moved ahead Friday, as global instability caused spikes in resource issues and positive news for Research in Motion Inc. caused a leap in the information technology sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 72.00 points, or 0.61%, to 11,810.55, breaking a run of three negative sessions. Volume on the senior exchange was 293 million.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups advanced on the session, with the energy group rising 1.03%.

The tech sector moved ahead 3.28%. Research In Motion shares gained $4.97, or 6.21%, to $84.99 as the U.S. judge presiding over the NTP patent case postponed making a decision on an injunction request that would disrupt the BlackBerry service in the U.S.


The junior S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index moved up 39.58, or 1.57%, to 2,588.38.

In New York, markets were mixed as investors weighed negative economic news and rising oil prices against hopes that recent dips represented a buying opportunity.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 7.37 points at 11,061.85, the S&P 500 index rose 1.64 points to 1,289.43, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 7.72 points to 2,287.04.