Investors have two big merger announcements to mull over when markets open Monday morning.

SBC Communications Inc. has agreed to buy former parent AT&T Corp. for US$16 billion, creating the largest U.S. communications company.

Closer to home, Eastman Kodak said it will pay US$980 million for Canadian imaging firm Creo. Creo said it is endorsing the takeover.

There are also reports this morning that MetLife is close to striking a deal to acquire Citigroup’s Travelers Life & Annuity, in a transaction that could be valued at around US$12 billion.

In today’s economic news, the Canadian economy advanced slightly in November after stalling in September and in October. Statistics Canada reported that gross domestic product rose by 0.2% in November after no growth in the previous two months.

On an annual basis, gross domestic product advanced 3.2 per cent between November 2004 and November 2003.

South of the border, U.S. personal income jumped by a record 3.7% in December, the U.S. Commerce Department said today, boosted by a large dividend payment from computer software giant Microsoft.

Asian markets rose in overnight trading. Japan’s Nikkei climbed 67.01 points, or 0.59%, to 11,387.59 points.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index advanced 71.63 points, or 0.52%, to 13,721.69.

Toronto stocks closed lower on Friday as investors locked in profits. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 32.63 points, or 0.36%, to 9,141.78.

For the week, the TSX benchmark index rose 0.6%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 5.53 points, or 0.31%, to end at 1,809.49.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks also ended lower. The market failed to get a lift from consumer products company Procter & Gamble announcing a US$57 billion stock deal to buy Gillette.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 40.20 points, or 0.38%, to finish at 10,427.20. The S&P 500 Index was down 3.19 points, or 0.27%, to close at 1,171.36. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 11.32 points, or 0.55%, to end at 2,035.83.

However, all three indexes ended higher for the week. The Dow ended up 0.32%, the S&P 500 finished up 0.29%, and the Nasdaq closed up 0.08%.