U.S. markets are likely to open lower Monday as investors digest record oil prices, and some disappointing fourth-quarter outlooks. In Toronto, investors will be paying attention to the glut of earnings reports expected this week.

In pre-market electronic trading, December futures for crude oil were up 3¢ to US$55.20 a barrel.

In economic, the National Association of Realtors is due to release data on U.S. existing-home sales for September at 10:00. ET.

There are no major economic reports from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US82, up 0.94 of a cent from the close Friday.

In business news, Magna International Inc. has made a bid to take its three publicly traded auto parts subsidiaries private. The big auto components maker said today it has made separate proposals to the boards of its three public subsidiaries, Intier Automotive Inc., Decoma International Inc. and Tesma International Inc. to acquire all the outstanding Class A subordinate voting shares of each subsidiary not owned by Magna.

In overseas trading, London’s FTSE 100-share index was down 1.3% at midday as crude oil’s latest spike and concerns about the quality of third-quarter earnings weighed on the market. Germany’s Xetra Dax index fell 2.3%, while France’s CAC-40 index skidded 2.2%.

Overnight in Asia, the Japanese Nikkei lost 1.8% amid concerns about the economy and powerful earthquakes that hit northern Japan over the weekend. Stocks also finished lower in Hong Kong.

Toronto stocks closed broadly lower Friday as crude oil futures climbed above US$55. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 65.85 points or 0.74% to 8,780.80.

Energy stocks finished 0.24% higher on the strength of record-setting oil prices, which ended over $55 a barrel.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index of small-cap issues rose 5.78 or 0.35% to 1,663.23.

The Canadian dollar rose to its highest level in more than a decade, to US81.11¢ vs the U.S. dollar.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks traded lower as a new record high for crude re-ignited concern over the impact of rising energy prices on economic growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average posted a triple-digit decline to end just off its low for the session, down 107.95 points, or 1.09%, at 9,757.81.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 38.48 points, or 2%, to 1,915.14 on a broad selloff in technology shares.

The S&P 500 shed 10.75 points, or 1%, to 1,095.74.

On the week, the Dow fell 1.8%, the Nasdaq eked out a gain of 0.2% while the S&P 500 fell 1.1%.