North American stocks are likely to climb Tuesday, with the casino industry in focus after investor Kirk Kerkorian’s bid for MGM Mirage assets, while the Canadian dollar climbed up above US92¢ after the Victoria Day holiday weekend.

Kerkorian, who holds a 56% stake in MGM Mirage, launched an offer for two of the big Las Vegas casino company’s prized assets in a volley that has put the entire company in play.

There are no major economic releases from Canada or the United States today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US92.12¢, up 0.33 of a cent.

Crude-oil prices fell 34¢ to US$65.93 a barrel.

In earnings news, Indigo Books & Music reduced its fourth-quarter loss to $4.2 million, from a year-earlier $7.4 million, as annual earnings rose 18.4% to a record $30 million.

Domtar reported Monday preliminary net profits of US$49 million or 14¢ a diluted share for the first quarter of 2007, reversing a net loss of US$747 million in the first quarter last year.

In other M&A news, fertilizer supplier Agrium expanded its American retail operations with a US$60 million purchase of 32 stores in Kansas and Oklahoma from Archer Daniels Midland.


EMI agreed to be bought by private-equity firm Terra Firma for US$4.74 billion.

GE agreed to sell its plastics unit to Saudi Arabia’s Sabic for US$11.6 billion.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 closed 0.7% higher in Tokyo. The FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% in London.

In New York, stocks finished mixed Monday, with the S&P 500 falling just short of its all-time closing high. The S&P 500 added 2.35 to 1525.10. The Dow Jone industrial average fell 13.65 to 13542.88, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 20.34 points to 2578.79.

Toronto stocks moved marginally higher Friday, ahead of a long holiday weekend, as continued strength in the resource sectors overshadowed weakness in financial stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 4.63 points, or 0.03%, to 14,105.34.

The benchmark index is up 0.7% on the week, and up 9.3 percent so far this year.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index gained 43.05 points, or 1.33%, to 3,279.60.