TORONTO - The Toronto stock market started off the trading week little changed amid soft commodity prices and caution ahead of the start of the U.S. second quarter earnings season.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 3.7 points to 11,574.1 while the TSX Venture Exchange gained 6.08 points to 1,375.63.
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 96.74 cents US.
The TSX energy sector was up 0.2 per cent as oil prices dropped below US$76 a barrel Monday amid a strengthening U.S. dollar, while investors hope company earnings reports will supply clues about the strength of the U.S. economy.
The August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 25 cents to US$75.84 a barrel. Canadian Oil Sands Trust (TSX:COS.UN) gained seven cents to $27.68.
The base metals sector was the leading decliner, down 0.7 per cent as copper prices moved lower. The September contract on the Nymex was down four cents to US$3.01 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) lost 26 cents to $35.34 while Western Coal Corp. (TSX:WTN) dipped seven cents to $4.15.
The gold sector was up slightly as the August bullion contract in New York lost ground, losing $5.30 to US$1,204.50 an ounce. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) was ahead 27 cents to $45.31.
The earnings season kicks off after the close with aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. releasing results. Its shares were off 14 cents to US$10.80.
JP Morgan and Google report on Thursday and Bank of America, Citigroup and General Electric hand in results on Friday.
Typically, Canadian quarterly earnings lag the U.S. by around three weeks.
Until last week, stocks had been sliding on signs that the global economy is not growing nearly as fast as economists and investors had hoped. The TSX ended the week up 3.34 per cent while the Dow industrials gained 5.28 per cent after both markets slid over four per cent the previous week.
