North American stocks look set to open lower Monday amid a spike in oil prices.

Oil prices jumped Monday in reaction to a threat by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that his nation could jeopardize the world’s oil supply if the West punished Tehran over its nuclear program. Crude-oil futures rose $1.12 to US$73.45 a barrel in early trading.

The Canadian dollar opened Monday at US90.93¢, up 0.10 of a cent from Friday’s close.

In today’s economic news, the Institute of Supply Management’s May services index is due for release at 10:00 ET. Economists expect a slowdown to 60.5% from 63%. Any figure above 50 indicates economic expansion.

In company news, Canadian Superior Energy Inc. said today it is topping a bid from Petro-Canada for Canada Southern Petroleum Ltd. Canadian Superior said it is offering 2.75 of its shares plus $2.50 in cash for each share of Canada Southern Petroleum.
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Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. said today it will spend $135 million to build the Kittila gold mine in Finland, $90 million to expand the Lapa gold project in Quebec and $23 million on expanded exploration at the Pinos Altos project in Mexico.

The company said it will raise $250 million in an equity offering, about the same amount it plans to spend on the properties.

In overseas trade, European stock markets were mixed, though oil producers including BP advanced on the rising energy prices. Major Asian stock markets were also mixed.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index shed 121.00 points, or 0.77%, to finish at 15,558.31 points. The index jumped 1.84% on Friday.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 103.52 points, or 0.7%, to 16,016.23. It was the first time the index closed above the 16,000 level since May 19.


On Friday, The S&P/TSX composite index gained 51.69 points, or 0.44%, to 11,898.66.

Nine of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 29.30, or 1.04%, o 2,856.98.

In New York, investors finished the session mixed after a volatile week.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 12.41 points to 11,247.87. The Nasdaq composite index put in a fractional loss, down 0.45 point at 2,219.41, The S&P 500 Index was up 2.51 points at 1,288.22.

On the week, the benchmark index fell 0.3%, the Nasdaq moved up 0.4%, and the S&P lifted 0.6%.