North American markets are expected to open higher Monday as stocks get a boost from a fresh round of merger activity.

U.S. financial services firm Washington Mutual agreed to acquire Providian Financial in a stock and cash transaction valued at US$6.45 billion. The move is aimed at strengthening Washington Mutual’s consumer-banking business.

E*Trade Financial has sweetened its bid for rival Ameritrade Holding. The bid is an effort to block Ameritrade’s separate negotiations with TD Waterhouse.

Weatherford International Ltd. is paying US$2.28 billion to acquire Calgary-based Precision Drilling Corp.’s energy services and contract drilling divisions.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada said the rebound in the value of residential permits in April was more than offset by the first decline in three months in the non-residential sector.

The government agency said the overall value of building permits issued by municipalities fell 2.6% to $5.0 billion.

Meanwhile, crude-oil prices edged higher this morning, rising 24¢ to US$55.27 a barrel in early trading.

On Friday, Toronto stocks finished the week with a rally in the resource sector, fuelled by spiking oil prices. The S&P/TSX composite index gained 44.53, or 0.46%, to finish at 9,671.17

On the week, the main TSX index gained 0.53%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index advanced 3.92, or 0.23%, to finish 1,680.73

In New York, stocks closed lower as investors absorbed news that the U.S. economy had created a mere 78,000 jobs in May, less than half the expected number.4

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 92.52 points, or 0.88%, to end the week at 10,460.97. The Nasdaq composite index shed 26.37 points, or 1.26%, to finish at 2,071.43 and the S&P 500 dropped 8.27 points, or 0.69%, to end at 1,196.02.

For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow lost 0.77%, the S&P fell 0.23% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.21%.