Stocks look poised to open higher Monday, following an upbeat earnings assessment from International Business Machines and growing hopes for a cut to U.S. interest rates.

IBM issued preliminary fourth-quarter results that are handily above analysts’ expectations. The technology giant said earnings from continuing operations were US$2.80 a share, up 24% from US$2.26 a year earlier, while revenue rose 10% to US$28.9 billion.

There are no major economic reports from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US98.42¢, up 0.35 cent from last week’s close after dropping 1.2¢ Friday on word that the economy lost almost 19,000 jobs in December.

In other earnings news, U.S. retailer Sears said it sees fourth-quarter earnings below expectations. Sears also reported a drop in same-store holiday sales and lower profit margins, citing increased competition and unfavorable economic conditions.

Investors will be assessing a series of earnings reports from big U.S. corporations before Canadian companies start reporting their fourth-quarter results.

Banking giant Citigroup reports Q4 results on Tuesday and is expected to announce writedowns totalling US$24 billion due to subprime mortgages and other losses.

In M&A news, NYSE Euronext said it is buying Wombat Financial Services, a provider of data-management software, for US$200 million.

Gold prices reached new highs on the ongoing U.S. dollar weakness and inflationary concerns fuelled by high oil prices. Bullion traded as high as US$914.30 overnight, after topping US$900 for the first time Friday.

Crude oil was up 15¢ at US$92.84 per barrel.

On Friday, Toronto stocks edged lower Friday as slumping financial and tech stocks offset gains in materials and energy shares.

The S&P/TSX composite closed down 10.08 points, or 0.07%, at 13,632.57.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index climbed 19.10 points, or 0.69%, to 2,797.76.

In New York, stocks tumbled amid concerns over further writedowns in the financial sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 246.79 points, or 1.92%, closing at 12,606.30. The S&P 500 saw more moderate losses, closing down 19.31 points, or 1.36%, to settle at 1,401.02.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 48.58 points, or 1.95%, closing at 2,439.94.

For the week, the Dow shed 1.5%, the S&P lost 0.8% and the Nasdaq declined 2.6%.