North American stock futures traded higher on Monday, as stocks continued to benefit from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s move last week to cut its discount rate and hint that it could make an interest-rate cut.

International stock markets advanced on Monday. In Asia, where investors received their first opportunity to react to the Fed move, the Nikkei 225 closed 3% higher. In Europe, the FTSE 100 rose for the second straight session, with the United Kingdom index climbing 1.1%.

Here at home, National Bank said it is acquiring about $2 billion worth of commercial paper, to help ease the liquidity problem in financial markets.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US94.29¢, up 0.07 of a cent.

In today’s earnings news, U.S. home improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. reported second-quarter profit surpassed Wall Street projections. The company said it will open 40 new stores during the current quarter, and believes sales will rise 6% for the year.

In M&A news, HSBC Holdings said it is in talks to buy a majority of Korea Exchange Bank from Lone Star.

Nasdaq Stock Market said it is reviewing options for its 31% stake in the London Stock Exchange Group. The U.S. stock-exchange operator said its current “stock price didn’t adequately reflect the value of its stake in the LSE.” Nasdaq said it will use some $1 billion from the proceeds of any sale to retire senior-term debt, with the remainder going to repurchase shares.

Crude-oil prices fell 51¢ to US$71.47 a barrel as Hurricane Dean looks likely to avoid key installations in the Gulf of Mexico. Gold futures rose 70¢ to US$667.50 an ounce.

On Friday, the Toronto stock market surged 200 points higher as investors were soothed by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s surprise cut to the discount rate at which it lends money to banks.

The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 200.88 points, or 1.56%, to close at 13,049.58, after a volatile session.

The benchmark index lost 200 points on Thursday and was down 3% for the week.


The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 99.46 points, or 4.07%, to 2,544.69 after plunging almost 10% Thursday.

In New York, stocks surged after the Fed cut the discount rate it charges banks in an emergency move to stabilize credit markets and keep the economy on track.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 233.30 points, or 1.82%, to 13,079.08. The S&P 500 rose 34.67 points, or 2.46%, to 1,445.94. The Nasdaq composite index gained 53.96 points, or 2.20%, to 2,505.03.

The Nasdaq had its best day in a year, but it was still down 1.6% for the week. The S&P 500 slipped 0.5% for the week, while the Dow’s weekly loss was 1.2%.