North American markets look set to open lower Monday, even as oil prices continued to slide. Crude futures sank below US$47 per barrel in early morning trading.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said manufacturing shipments retreated 0.6% to $50.4 billion in September, as a marked decline in the aerospace industry weakened production.

The decreased ended a nine-month climb for shipments.

In a separate release, StatsCan said new motor vehicle sales declined 3.2% in September. Weak demand for North American-built passenger cars was largely responsible for the second consecutive monthly decrease, the government agency said.

There are no major economic releases in the United States today.

In business news, CIBC says it will post an $85 million gain from selling interests in Republic Bank Ltd. of Trinidad and Tobago. The bank said Monday that subsidiary CIBC Holdings (Cayman) Ltd., is selling its 1.9 million shares in Republic Bank to CLICO Investment Bank of Trinidad and Tobago for an after-tax gain of $25 million.

Meanwhile, Dow Jones has agreed to pay US$519 million to buy MarketWatch, parent company of the financial news Web site CBS MarketWatch

In earnings news, Kinross Gold is restating its third-quarter financial report, issued less than three weeks ago, to show a loss of US$133.6 million instead of a profit. Kinross said Monday it has changed its methodology for allocating “goodwill” values among its assets.

Toronto stocks closed higher Friday, getting a boost from gold and energy issues. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 10.20 points, or 0.11%, to close at 8,896.37 on heavy volume of 301 million shares.

For the week, the benchmark index rose 0.3%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed up just 1.62 points at 1,632.67.

On Wall Street, U.S. markets finished higher because of a stronger quarterly profit from computer maker Dell and the resumed decline in the price of oil.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 69.17 points, or 0.66%, to 10,539.01, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 24.07 points, or 1.17%, to 2,085.34. The broader S&P 500 gained 10.69 points, or 0.91%, to close at 1,184.17.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.46%, while the Nasdaq gained 2.28%, and the S&P 500 climbed 1.54%.

The Dow closed at its highest level in seven months, the Nasdaq in nine months and the S&P hit a fresh three-year high.