North American stocks appear headed for a higher start Monday, helped by solid earnings from retail behemoth Wal-Mart Stores and merger activity in the United States.

Wal-Mart posted a 3.8% increase in fiscal third-quarter earnings on a 10% rise in sales. The world’s largest retailer anticipates fourth-quarter earnings between US82¢ and 86¢ a share.

Koch Industries agreed to purchase building-products and paper maker Georgia-Pacific for US$13.2 billion.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide agreed to sell 38 properties to Host Marriott for about US$3.4 billion plus US$700 million in debt.

Crude-oil prices rose 56 cents to US$58.09 a barrel in early trade Monday after recent losses.

Overseas, the Japanese Nikkei 225 ended 0.3% lower at 14,116.04, while European markets edged higher after early losses. In London, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% recently.

Toronto stocks shot up Friday, as resource issues advanced strongly, despite relatively low volume on the broader market attributable to Remembrance Day observances.

The Canadian dollar opened at US83.71¢Monday morning, down 0.31 of a cent from Thursday’s close. Currency trading was halted Friday to mark Remembrance Day.


The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 104.14, or 0.99%, to 10,699.40.

Biovail Corp. reported third-quarter earnings of US$101.7 million, more than double from a year ago. Biovail Corp. was up 75¢, or 2.92%, to $6.45.

Dofasco Inc. announced it intends to spin off part of its Quebec Cartier Mining iron ore unit into an income trust. Its shares jumped $5.47, or 14.30%, to $43.72.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 4.90, or 0.24%, to 2,020.50.

In New York, markets were spurred forward by falling energy prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 45.94 points, or 0.43%, to 10,686.04, the S&P500 index was up 3.76, or 0.31%, at 1,234.72, and the Nasdaq composite index climbed 5.79, or 0.26 %, to 2,202.47.

For the week, the Dow advanced 1.47%, the S&P 500 added 1.19% and the Nasdaq was higher by 1.52%.