North American stocks are poised to slip Monday morning, while oil prices edged lower even as cold gripped much of North America.

Light sweet crude for March delivery dropped 15¢ to $58.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange mid-afternoon in Singapore.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US84.3¢, down 0.05 of a cent.

South of the border, Monday’s data highlight will be the release of the Institute of Supply Management’s nonmanufacturing survey for January, which is expected to show that the services sector is expanding at an increasing rate.

In M&A news, Australian construction and property business Multiplex Ltd. said Monday it has been approached by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc. about a possible stake in the company.

In another deal involving Brookfield, Simon Property Group Inc. and Farallon Capital Management are offering US$24 a share for mall company The Mills Corp., aiming to top a US$21-a-share bid from Brookfield that has a total value of US$7.5 billion.

In financial services news, institutional investment manager State Street Corp. has agreed to buy Investors Financial Services Corp. for about US$4.5 billion in stock. Boston-based Investors Financial Services provides investment services for US$2.2 trillion in assets.

In today’s earnings news, Ipsco Inc. said its fourth-quarter profit slipped to US$139 million from a year-earlier US$170.2 million as the cost of acquiring NS Group took a bite out of earnings.

Overseas, European stock markets were mixed, with a slight rise for the FTSE 100 in London and a slight decline for the German DAX 30.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index retreated 202.31 points, or 1.15%, to finish the day’s trading at 17,344.80 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 108.06 points, or 0.53%, to 20,455.62.

Toronto stocks closed lower on Friday, reversing three days of gains, as mining shares slumped along with metal prices.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 33.17 points, or 0.3%, at 13,111.57.

For the week, the benchmark index gained 1.4%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was off 14.59 points to 2,971.62.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.48 of a cent to US84.35¢.

In New York, U.S. blue-chips eased on Friday after data showing moderate job creation in January suggested the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates yet.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 20.19 points, or 0.16%, to 12,653.49, while the S&P 500 rose 2.45 points, or 0.17%, to 1,448.39. The Nasdaq composite index gained 7.50 points, or 0.30%, to 2,475.88.