Stocks look set to rise on the open this morning, bouncing back after a down day yesterday. Techs are getting a boost from Merrill Lynch & Co, which is out speaking positively on Cisco Systems Inc.

As well, Yahoo! Inc. is expected to report its first quarterly profit in the last six quarters, later this afternoon.

Another area that may see some strength is energy stocks. Crude prices are up after the American Petroleum Institute reported a notable drop in U.S. inventories.

In Europe, stocks are down already, though. Royal Dutch Petroleum and Unilever are leading the way on news that they are being dropped from the S&P 500. Some of this selling pressure will undoubtedly hit Canadian stocks too, with S&P also dumping Inco, Alcan, Barrick, Placer Dome and Nortel Networks from the index. S&P is moving to only include U.S.-based firms in the 500.

There is also weakness in bank stocks in Europe, following some negative comments by Goldman, Sachs & Co. Also, Munich Re is weaker after it said it had to pump another US$2 billion into its U.S. unit. In the United Kingdom. industrial production was reported up in May.

The FTSE is down 20 points to 4,523. The CAC 40 has lost 84 points to 3,735. The DAX is down 35 points to 4,335.

Overnight in Asia, stocks failed to buck the selling trends in the U.S. The Nikkei dropped 208 points to 10,753. The Hang Seng lost 56 points to 10,788.

In M&A news, National Australia Bank Ltd. has reportedly approached Abbey National plc about a possible merger.

In Canada, G.T.C. Transcontinental Group Ltd., owner of Investment Executive, has called a press conference to announce “a major acquisition” for Transcontinental.

In earnings news, Suncor Energy Inc. reported that net earnings for the second quarter of 2002 are expected to be in the range of $210 million to $220 million. Earnings will include a $34 million after-tax gain on the sale of Suncor’s Ontario retail natural gas marketing assets.

Also, Vivendi Universal says that now it has a deal to secure its short term liquidity, it is working with its banks on putting in place a refinancing to address the longer term financing requirements.