North American stock markets faced mixed signals ahead of Tuesay’s open as oil prices eased and investors awaited a possible interest rate hike in the United States.

Investors are anticipating the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise rates a quarter-point tomorrow, but hope that the central bank will soon end its streak of rate increases.

Crude oil prices sank further below US$60 a barrel on Tuesday after forecasts calling for warmer weather in the United States sparked a wave of selling. Light sweet crude slipped 10¢ to US$59.66 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange

The Canadian dollar opened at US84.69¢, up 0.03 of a cent. There are no major economic announcements from Statistics Canada today.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 Index surged 261.36 points, or 1.92%, to finish the day at 13,867.86.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 185.89 points to 14,572.26.

In other news: Toronto stocks rose Monday on a blockbuster takeover bid in the gold sector and on encouraging economic news.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 71.02, or 0.69%, to 10,383.32. The senior exchange lost 5.7% during in October.

Barrick Gold Corp. has offered US$9.2 billion in stock and cash for Placer Dome Inc. to create what it says would be the world’s largest gold mining company. Barrick already has a side deal with Goldcorp to sell Placer Dome’s Ontario gold assets and a Chilean silver mine interest for US$1.35 billion to Goldcorp if the Placer Dome acquisition succeeds.

Barrick fell $1.95, or 7.17%, to $25.25, Placer Dome gained $3.84, or 19.70%, to $23.33 and Goldcorp gained 90¢, or 3.94%, to $23.76.

The financials sector zoomed ahead 1.15%.

CI Financial is offering $254million to buy Clarington Corp. CI gained 18¢, or 0.84%, to $21.50, while Clarington soared forward $4.61, or 57.62%, to $12.61.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished down 2.97, or 0.15%, 1,993.56.

In New York, lower oil prices spurred the market ahead.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 37.30 points to 10,440.07, the S&P 500 Index rose 8.60 points to 1,207.01 while the Nasdaq composite index gained 30.42 points to 2,120.30.

For October, the Dow Jones lost 1.2%, the Nasdaq 1.5% and the S&P 500 1.8%.