North American markets look set to advance Monday following the Easter long weekend, getting a boost from a multibillion-dollar acquisition in the technology sector and lower oil prices.

Earlier today seven private-equity firms announced the US$10.8 billion purchase of SunGard Data Systems. If completed, the deal would be the biggest buyout of a tech company.

Meanwhile, crude-oil prices dropped 54¢ to US$54.30 a barrel early Monday on profit-taking following the Easter holiday.

In other business news, the Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly sent subpoenas to as many as 12 executives at insurance giant American International Group, amid several expanding probes.

Overnight in Asia, stock prices in Tokyo were lifted by a strong U.S. dollar.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues edged up 51.31 points, or 0.43%, to 11,709.79. The index climbed 15.13 points, or 0.13% , on Friday.

Markets in Hong Kong remained closed for Easter.

The Canadian dollar opened at US82.16¢ down 0.09 of a cent since Thursday.

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

Toronto stocks closed lower for the fifth straight session on Friday. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 16.57 points, or 0.17%, to 9,533.10. Volume was 233 million shares.

For the week, the benchmark index finished down 2.3%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 4.19 points, or 0.22%, to end at 1,934.98.

On Wall Street, U.S. technology stocks were little changed on Thursday, while gains in crude oil prices weighed on blue chips.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 13.15 points, or 0.13%, to end at 10,442.87 and the S&P 500 was down 1.11 points, or 0.59%, to close at 1,171.42. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was up just 0.84 of a point, or 0.04%, to finish at 1,991.06.

For the week, the Dow ended down 1.8%, the S&P fell 1.5% and Nasdaq was off 0.8%.