U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Monday, on the strength of Friday’s retail sales.

Retail sales on Black Friday, the traditional shopping frenzy on the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, rose 8.3% from a year ago, according to an estimate from ShopperTrak RCT.

The news helped lift global markets on Monday. The Hang Seng rose more than 4%, while the FTSE 100 added 0.5%.

But sales per individual shopper were lower than a year ago, according to a National Retail Federation survey. High energy prices, a slumping housing market and tightening credit conditions conspired to keep consumers hunting for deep discounts.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US$1.0184 cents after falling about half a cent Friday.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

In banking news, HSBC said it would move two of its structured investment vehicles onto its balance sheet and provide up to US$35 billion in funding.

In today’s M&A news, Royal Philips Electronics NV said it will buy Genlyte Group Inc. for US$2.7 billion. Phillips agreed to pay US$95.50 (64.77 euros) in a management-agreed takeover that values the U.S. company at 1.83 billion euros.

In other market news, commercial printer Quebecor World Inc. has suspended dividend payments on its Series 3 and Series 5 preferred shares as it struggles with recent financing problems.

The company lost US$315 million in the third quarter as revenue declined to $1.41 billion, mainly the result of writedowns in Europe.

Crude oil futures rose 46¢ at US$98.64 a barrel. Gold futures jumped US$11.30 to US$836 an ounce.

Toronto stocks finished higher for the second day in a row on Friday, as rising commodity prices lifted resources issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 86.20 points, or 0.64%, to 13,467.20.

For the week, the benchmark index was down 0.5%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index soared 1.97%, or 54.92 points, to finish at 2,846.71

In New York, U.S. stocks rebounded in an abbreviated session as the start of holiday shopping lifted retail stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 181.84 points, or 1.42%, at 12,980.88. The S&P 500 was up 23.93 points, or 1.69%, at 1,440.70. The Nasdaq composite index was up 34.45 points, or 1.34%, at 2,596.60.

Despite Friday’s rally, the Dow finished the week down 1.5%. The S&P lost 1.2% on the week and the Nasdaq fell 1.5%.