Bay Street Skittish, Agrium-Potash Merge -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks may struggle to rebound from significant losses in the previous session Monday, despite news of a massive merger of fertilizer giants.

Agrium Inc. (AGU.TO, AGU) and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO, POT) announced they have agreed to combine in a merger of equals.

The combined value of the agricultural product companies will be $36 billion.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Monday morning amid signs the global supply glut will worsen.

US rig counts are on the rise, while Iran is expected to keep pumping oil at a breakneck pace to make up for years of sanctions.

OPEC raised its forecast of oil supplies from non-member countries in 2017.

Crude oil was down 90 cents, or 2 percent, to $44.98 a barrel.

In corporate news, WestJet (WJA.TO) reported higher load capacity.

Open Text (OTC.TO) will buy Dell EMC's Enterprise Content Division, including Documentum. The purchase price of the deal is $1.62 billion.

On Friday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index plunged 263.38 points, or 1.78 percent, to 14,539.88, the worst daily performance since the Brexit crisis.