North American stock markets look set for a weak start despite a U.S. $2.4 billion bid for more than 1,500 Eckerd drugstores by Quebec-based Jean Coutu Group.

Wall Street futures are down and European indexes are mixed in light midday trading Monday, ahead of the Easter break.

In London, the FTSE100 is off 10.50 points, or 0.2%, to 4,455.10. In Paris, the CAC40 is up 0.5% to 3,760.23, while in Frankfurt, the Xetra DAX Index has edged up 0.1% to 4,012.

Japan’s stock market closed higher after last week’s gains on Wall Street. Tokyo’s Nikkei index rose 142.37 points, or 1.2%, to 11,958.32. The market was closed in Hong Kong for apublic holiday.

On Friday, stock markets charged ahead after the last piece of the U.S. economic recovery clicked into place as numbers finally showed that jobs were being created at a healthy pace.

A U.S. Labor Department report said companies added 308,000 jobs in March, a critical sign for the markets and the U.S. Federal Reserve. Figures for January and February were also revised higher to show 205,000 jobs were added in January and February, instead of the 118,000 reported last month.

In other business news, David Brown, chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission, kicks off Ontario’s Investor Education Awareness Campaign by discussing recent developments in securities market enforcement today in Toronto.

In Calgary, David Wilson, chairman and CEO of Scotia Capital, will call for a single securities regulator in a speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

On Friday, The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 146.67 points, or 1.7%, at 8,798.75, on the heels of a stonger-than-expected U.S. jobs report.. On the week, the index benchmark index gained 3.4%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 10.64 points to close at 1,895.42.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 97.26 points at 10,470.59. The S&P 500 rose 9.63 points to 1,141.80. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index roared ahead 42.16 points, or 2.09%, to 2,057.17.

For the week, the blue-chip Dow rose 2.5%, while the Nasdaq gained almost 5%. The S&P 500 gained 3%.