Wall Street stock futures were poised to open higher Monday, with shares of troubled banking giant Citigroup Inc. set to rise after the U.S. government injected US$20 billion as part of a rescue package.

Late Sunday night the U.S. agreed to take unprecedented steps to stabilize Citigroup by moving to guarantee US$306 billion in troubled assets weighing on its books.

European banks were also lifted on the Citigroup news.

Midday in London, the FTSE 100 surged 4.5%.

Asia stocks ended mixed, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropping 1.35%. Tokyo was closed.

Here at home, the Conference Board of Canada said its consumer confidence index fell again this month, losing 2.9 points to 71.

The Canadian dollar opened at US78.88¢, up by 0.58 cent, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Sunday that Canada faces the prospect of falling into a “technical recession” and Ottawa might have to take unprecedented actions to stimulate the faltering economy.

Also on today’s economic calendar, U.S. home builders will be in focus, as the government reports on existing-home sales.

In commodities news, light, sweet crude for January delivery was up 59¢ to US$50.52 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore.

Surging commodity prices powered Toronto stocks higher Friday as financial issues lagged in a volatile session.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 430.63 points, or 5.57%, at 8,155.39. Earlier in the day, the benchmark hit a low of 7647.11.

But even with Friday’s broad rally, the TSX was still down 9.9% for the week.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 11.88 points, or 1.72%, to finish at 703.83.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 494.37 points, or 6.55%, at 8,046.42. The S&P 500 shot up 47.59 points, or 6.32%, at 800.03. The Nasdaq composite index gained 68.23 points, or 5.18%, at 1,384.35.

IE