North American stocks are likely to advance at the open Monday amid a rush of merger activity, including major deals in the drug and retail sector.

Chemicals group Akzo Nobel said it will sell its pharmaceutical business Organon BioSciences to Schering-Plough for 11 billion euros ($14.43 billion), instead of holding an initial public offering for the business as planned.

U.S. discount retailer Dollar General said it agreed to be acquired by affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for US$6.92 billion, plus assumed debt of US$380 million. In premarket trading, Dollar General shares were at

UnitedHealth Group has agreed to acquire Sierra Health Services for US$2.6 billion in cash.

Procter & Gamble said it agreed to sell its Western Europe tissue and tower business to SCA in a deal the Swedish firm says is worth 512 million euros (US$673 million).

Swisscom agreed to buy Italy’s Fastweb for US$4.9 billion.

In earnings news, oilsands operator Synenco Energy Inc. reported stronger financial results last year and said its Northern Lights oilsands project in northern Alberta has raised its resource estimate by 12% to more than 1.67 billion barrels of oil. The Calgary company said it earned a net profit of $3.9 million or 7¢ a share for the year ended Dec. 31, compared with a net loss of $5.9 million or 22¢ for 2005.

Crude-oil prices fell 60¢ to US$59.45 a barrel.

The Canadian dollar opened at US85.42¢, up 0.12 of a cent.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.8% in Tokyo. The Hang Seng index rose 1.6% in Hong Kong. The FTSE 100 rose 0.2% in London.

On Friday, Toronto stocks closed marginally higher, as a strong day in financials offset weakness in the resources sectors.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 6.40, or 0.05%, to 13,057.37. For the week, the senior exchange gained 1.51%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index lost 6.50 points, or 0.21%, to 3,127.69.

In New York, markets ended mixed and little changed, as investors took in positive economic news, but remained concerned over the longer-term prospects for both the domestic and global economies.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 15.62, or 0.13%, to 12,276.32, the S&P500 edged forward 0.96, or 0.07%, to 1,402.85, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 0.18, or 0.01%, to 2,387.55.

For the week, the Dow gained 1.3%, the S&P500 lifted 1.1%, and the Nasdaq moved ahead 0.8%.