North American stocks are likely to open little changed Monday heading into a week full of quarterly earnings results.

In today’s economic news, manufacturing shipments remained virtually unchanged in May after a slight decrease in April, as gains by petroleum and coal manufacturers were offset by a decrease by primary metal product manufacturers, Statistics Canada reported.

The government agency manufacturing shipments slipped 0.1% to $49.7 billion in May. Manufacturing shipments had trended slowly downwards throughout most of 2006, before posting a strong first quarter in 2007.

Separately, StatsCan reported that new motor vehicle sales declined 0.8% nationally in May, with five provinces recording increases and five reporting decreases.

The Canadian dollar opened at US95.6¢, up 0.23 of a cent.

In today’s earnings news, toymaker Mattel reported a 15% profit rise.

CoolBrands International trimmed its third-quarter loss as it continues to streamline its business by selling off operations. The frozen treat company said late Friday it lost US$2.9 million, or 5¢ a share, for the quarter ended May 31, compared with a loss of US$11.8 million, or 21¢ a share, last year.

In M&A news, a group led by the Royal Bank of Scotland added more cash to its US$98 billion offer for ABN Amro, the Dutch bank that has previously backed an offer from Britain’s Barclays

Crude-oil futures rose 16¢ to US$74.29 a barrel.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% in London and the Hang Seng dropped 0.6% in Hong Kong. The Japanese stock market was closed for a holiday.

Toronto stocks rallied Friday on strong energy and resources shares.

The S&P/TSX composite index soared 140.5 points, or 0.98%, to close at 14,496.50, a new record.

All but one of 10 TSX main groups advanced.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index climbed 25.28 points, or 0.76%, at 3,330.39.

In New York, the S&P 500 climbed to a new record, surpassing levels reached during the Internet bubble.

The Dow crossed 13,900 for the first time and hit a lifetime high for a second straight day as General Electric roughly doubled its 2007 share buyback to US$14 billion.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 45.52 points, or 0.33%, to end at a record 13,907.25. The S&P 500 gained 4.80 points, or 0.31%, to finish at 1,552.50, also a record close. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index advanced 5.27 points, or 0.20%, to close at 2,707.00.

For the week, the Dow ended up 2.2%, the S&P 500 rose 1.4% and the Nasdaq gained 1.5%.