The Toronto Stock Exchange saw some mild gains Monday morning, but there was little to indicate investors have regained confidence in the market following recent losses.
Shortly after the open, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 10.6 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 12,800.55. The TSX has declined for the last three trading days, and has only seen two positive sessions out of the last 14. As of Friday, it had declined more than 10 per cent from highs seen in early April.
The situation involving Greece's troubled financial state continued to be central to investors' sentiment globally on Monday, as there was still no word on a definitive agreement among other European countries on how to save Greece from defaulting on loan payments.
Closer to home, Royal Bank of Canada announced it had reached a deal to sell its U.S. banking division to PNC Financial Services Group Inc. for $3.62 billion U.S..
Statistics Canada said households' market debt-to-disposable income ratio rose to a record 147.3 per cent in the first quarter from a revised 146.2 per cent in last year's fourth quarter.
On the commodities markets, crude oil was down 13 cents to $92.88 U.S. a barrel in New York. Gold was up $1.40 to $1,540.50 U.S. an ounce.
The Canadian dollar was down one basis point to $1.0201 U.S..
In U.S. markets, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 28.61 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 11,975.75 in the early trading Monday. The Nasdaq composite index fell 4.98 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 2,611.50.
European markets were having a negative day. London's FTSE index was down 44.8 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 5,670.14. In Paris, the CAC declined 43.55 points, or 1.14 per cent, to 3,780.19. The Frankfurt DAX fell 71.8 points, or one per cent, to 7,092.25.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei index was up 2.92 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 9,354.32. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 95.75 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 21,599.51. In mainland China, the Shanghai index was down 21.57 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 2,621.25.
On Friday, the TSX fell 63.18 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 12,789.95. The Dow Jones was up 42.84 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 12,004.36, while the Nasdaq shed 7.22 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 2,616.48.
