(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks may hold on to gains Monday morning amid a recovery in the commodities prices and global equity markets on optimism over the global economic growth. Stock specific action may not be ruled out as a host of big names scheduled to release their earnings reports this week, including CN Rail, Inmet Mining and Barrick Gold. Encouraging earnings reports from Whirlpool and Caterpillar may also help lift sentiment. However, uncertainty over the Greek fund disbursement may weigh on the sentiment. Last Friday, Greece said it will opt for bailout loans to from the euro zone and the IMF. U.S. stock futures point to a marginally higher opening. On Friday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 78.77 points or 0.65% to 12,239.64, its fresh 18-month high. The main index rose for a fifth straight session, adding nearly 1.5% last week. The price of oil edged up $0.34 to $85.46 a barrel and the price of gold rose $3.0 to $1,156.40 an ounce hovering near its 2-week high. In corporates news, Research In Motion (RIM.TO) announced that it introduced the new Blackberry Pearl 3G Smartphone. It also said that it introduced the BlackBerry Bold 9650 smartphone, which is expected to be available from carriers in the U.S.beginning in May. The company also hosts its 2010 Capital market day today. Integrated wood products company West Fraser Timber (WFT.TO) posted first-quarter earnings after discontinued operations of $0.45 per share, compared with a loss of $1.94 per share in the prior year period. Analysts expected the company to record $0.27 per share in the quarter. Harris N.A., a part of BMO Financial Group (BMO.TO), said that it has acquired certain assets and liabilities of Amcore Bank N.A. from the FDIC, effective Friday. Investment dealer Canaccord Financial (CF.TO) said it has completed its acquisition of Genuity Capital Markets, by issuing 26.5 million shares and C$30 million of cash. Mineral explorer International PBX Ventures (PBX.V) said it completed its second tranche private placement of 2.41 million units for total proceeds of $483,500. Property database service provider Zaio Corporation (ZAO.V) announces non-brokered private placement of 19,230,770 units at C$0.13 per Unit for gross proceeds of approximately C$2.5 million. In economic news, rating agency Standard & Poor’s affirmed Canada’s ratings on Friday. The agency affirmed the country’s ‘AAA’ long-term and ‘A-1+’ short-term sovereign credit ratings with a stable outlook. “Canada has what we view as strong public finances, a relatively diversified economy, stable public policy, and a sound financial sector,” the agency said in a statement. For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

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