U.S. stock futures pointed to further gains on Monday, amid expectations for an interest-rate cut later this week.

Wall Street giant Merrill Lynch will be in focus on speculation that chairman and CEO Stanley O’Neal will announce his resignation. O’Neal has gotten into hot water after Merrill had to write down some US$3 billion more in subprime losses than it first estimated,

The U.S. economic calendar is light on Monday, though attention is on the next meeting of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee. Fed policy makers are expected to make a rate cut on Wednesday.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US104.24¢, up 0.31 of a cent, as oil prices spiked again.

Oil futures topped the US$93 a mark for the first time Monday, with halted production in Mexico the latest catalyst to spur energy futures forward.

Gold futures traded as high as US$798.30 an ounce.

In today’s M&A news, Barrick Gold has struck a friendly $773 million deal to buy a U.S. miner that owns 51% of a Chilean property that contains one of the world’s largest undeveloped gold and copper deposits.

Barrick said early Monday that the $18-a-share offer for Arizona Star Resource Corp. represents a premium of 27% over the U.S. company’s 20-day volume-weighted average trading price on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

In earnings news, HSBC Bank Canada reported a 5.1% rise in third-quarter earnings to $145 million as assets swelled 13.8% from a year earlier to $63.6 billion.

Cogeco Cable said its profit increased 7% in the fourth quarter and 29% for the year due to growth in operating income. The Montreal-based company also hiked its next quarterly dividend by 25%.

UBS said it may have to make more write-downs, though it reported a healthy start to the fourth quarter.

Verizon Communications reported a smaller-than-forecast 34% profit drop and Humana reported a 90% profit rise.

In other business news, Scandinavian airline group SAS AB said Monday its decision to pull Bombardier Q400 turboprops from its fleet after three crash landings will cost it up to US$63 million.

Overseas oil and metal extractors, including Rio Tinto, led markets higher, with the FTSE 100 up 0.6% in London and the Nikkei 225 climbing 1.2% in Tokyo.

The Toronto Stock Exchange finished solidly higher on Friday as strong commodity prices helped the energy sector to a last-minute rally, shrugging off concerns over Alberta’s new oil and gas royalty structure.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 171.49 points, or 1.21%, to finish at. 14,296.43.

For the week, the benchmark index posted a gain of 294.77 points, or 2.1%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index climbed 39.44 points, or 1.29%, to 3,091.62.

In New York, stocks rallied on Friday after Microsoft’s upbeat outlook and a profit forecast from U.S. mortgage lender Countrywide Financial buoyed the struggling financial sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 134.78 points, or 0.99%, to end at 13,806.70. The S&P 500 was up 20.88 points, or 1.38%, at 1,535.28. The Nasdaq composite index was up 53.33 points, or 1.94%, at 2,804.19.

For the week, the Dow rose 2.11%, the S&P 500 added 2.31% and the Nasdaq gained 2.90%.