North American stocks may open higher Monday amid another bout of merger news.

Barrick Gold Corp. has withdrawn its challenge of Placer Dome’s shareholder rights defence plan and will extend its multibillion-dollar hostile takeover bid for the gold producer until mid-January.

The two companies announced Sunday that Barrick had agreed to withdraw its application asking the B.C. Securities Commission to overturn Placer’s poison-pill defence, effective Dec. 20, the original expiry date for Barrick’s hostile bid announced in late October.

South of the border, ConocoPhillips is in talks to buy oil-and-gas producer Burlington Resources in a deal valued at more than US$30 billion.

That followed Sunday’s blockbuster deal in which Viacom’s Paramount Pictures snatched up DreamWorks SKG in a deal worth US$1.6 billion in cash and debt, beating out GE’s NBC Universal.

OPEC oil ministers agreed Monday to maintain production at the organization’s highest-ever levels.

Oil prices jumped Monday as forecasts of colder weather in the U.S. Northeast boosted expectations of a rise in demand.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose 55¢ to US$59.94 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midmorning in Singapore.

There are no major economic announcements from Canada or the United States on the calendar today, but Tuesday brings another interest-rate decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The Fed is generally expected to hike U.S. interest rates by a quarter-point.

The Canadian dollar opened at US86.72¢, up 0.32 of a cent.

In Europe, stocks were higher at midday and key indexes in Germany in France hit multiyear highs, led by gains from French media companies triggered by speculation of a merger of pay-television operations.

Asian markets finished mostly higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Average rebounded from a botched stock trade last week that triggered widespread selling, to close up 334.65 points, or 2.17%, at 15,738.7 — a five-year high.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 73.89 points, or 0.5%, to 14,984.4.

On Friday, Toronto stocks closed lower, as the energy sector dragged down the broader market, despite a good day in the information technology sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 35.19 points, or 0.32%, at 11,132.


The S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 9.54 points, or 0.45%, to 2,139.70.

On Wall Street, lower energy prices moved the market upward after a volatile trading day.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 23.46 points, or 0.22%, to 10,778.58, the S&P 500 index was up 3.53, or 0.28%, at 1,259.37, and the Nasdaq composite index added 10.27, or 0.46%, to 2,256.73.

For the week, the Dow fell 0.91%, while the broad S&P 500 declined 0.45%, and the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.73%.