A mix-it-up Monday?

[notiCIas]

A mix-it-up Monday?

Several big deals could give stocks a lift, but rising oil still a concern for investors.

April 25, 2005: 6:43 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The lift that stocks could get Monday from a number of multi-billion dollar deals could be tempered by a new rise in oil prices.

U.S. stock futures were slightly lower in early trading, although a comparison to fair value suggests a slightly higher opening for stocks,

Over the weekend, the board of MCI (Research) said accepted the new $9.9 billion bid from three-times spurned Qwest Communications (Research), saying its offer is now superior to its previous $7.8 billion merger agreement with Verizon Communications (Research). The twist in the long-running takeover battle could bring a higher bid from Verizon in response.


Valero Energy (Research) confirmed that it agreed to acquire refiner Premcor (Research) for about $6.9 billion in cash and stock, a deal that would create North America's largest refiner of crude oil.

Dow Jones reports financier Kenneth Langone is mounting a bid to buy the New York Stock Exchange, a deal that could derail a $400 million deal that the NYSE announced last week to buy electronic trading platform Archipelago Holdings (Research) and turn into a publicly-traded company.

John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia Securities, says the flurry of deals is getting some traders looking to stocks after some recent pullbacks.

"There's a lot of talk among a lot of stock traders, despite more modest economic growth, that there's a lot of opportunities out there," he said. "The broader investor looking at the S&P 500 or other indexes has to be concerned about the sectors being hit by higher oil, like airlines or autos. But there's a lot out there on the corporate level to spur interest."

Oil prices were up Monday, ahead of the meeting between President Bush and Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan set for later in the day.

The June light crude contract gained 27 cents to $55.66 a barrel in electronic trading, while the June contract for Brent crude rose 36 cents to $55.33.

Major markets in Asia closed higher Monday. But major European markets were lower in early trading.

Treasury prices were higher, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 4.24 percent from 4.25 percent late Friday. The dollar gained ground on the euro and the yen.

In economic reports, a report on existing home sales is due at 10 a.m. ET from the National Association of Realtors. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that sales at an annual pace of 6.8 million for March, little changed from the February sales pace.