Despite the U.S. government coming to a tentative agreement with Congress on the US$700-billion bailout plan this past Sunday, North American stocks are poised to slide on Monday morning as banking problems continue in Europe and the U.S.

In Britain, the government took over troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley. As well, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg acted to partly nationalize banking and insurance group Fortis, suggesting the European sector’s troubles were spreading. And in the U.S., Citigroup Inc., the largest U.S. bank by assets, agreed to buy the banking operations of fledgling Wachovia Corp.

Investor scepticism of the bailout plan and reaction to the news about these financial institutions led markets lower overseas. In Asian, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was down 1.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Send index shed 2.1% and key stock indices in Seoul, Singapore and Sydney were also lower on Monday. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 sank 2.2% while France’s CAC-40 and Germany’s DAX both fell 2.6%.

Eyes will turn to Washington, D.C. later on Monday as the bailout plan goes to the House for a vote. It will then go to the Senate later in the week.

On Friday, Toronto stocks tumbled lower on weakness among the dominant energy, financial and materials groups. The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 420.51 points, or 3.35%, to close at 12,126.00.

Shares of heavyweight technology firm Research in Motion plunged 28.2% after the company shaved back its profit outlook for its third quarter. RIM shares closed down $28.43 to $72.57.

The day wasn’t much better for equities on Toronto’s junior exchange. The S&P/TSX Venture composite index dropped 25 points, or 1.6% Friday, closing at 1,515.64.

South of the border, markets fared better. A rally late in the day pulled the Dow Jones industrial average up 121 points, or 1.1%, to 11,143.13, but the index still lost 2% for the week overall.

The S&P 500 climbed four points, or about 0.3% to 1,213.27, resulting in a weekly decline of 3.2%.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 3.23 points, or 0.1% on Friday, to finish at 2,183.34. It lost 4% throughout the week.