The Toronto stock market was flat to end Monday, after the Greek parliament passed a package of harsh austerity measures in order to secure a second bailout that will hopefully save the country from bankruptcy.
The S&P TSX Composite Index was ahead of Friday’s close, but only by 9.27 points to finish at 12,398.69.
The Canadian dollar headed higher as Sunday's vote encouraged investors to take on added risk, rising 0.17 of a cent to 100.06 cents U.S.
The energy sector improved while Talisman Energy rose 25 cents to $12.56 and Canadian Oil Sands was ahead 59 cents to $22.59.
March copper was down two cents to $3.84 U.S. a pound, but the base metals sector was still ahead. HudBay Minerals was ahead eight cents to $11.94 and First Quantum Mineral improved by 74 cents to $22.02.
The industrials sector was ahead Bombardier Aerospace has received an order for five Q400 NextGen aircraft from an unnamed carrier valued at $160 million U.S. Bombardier shares rose six cents to $4.85.
Financials were also supportive, particularly in the insurance component. Manulife Financial rose 23 cents to $11.98 and Sun Life Financial climbed 25 cents to $21.10.
The gold sector was the weakest component as April bullion gave up early gains and Kinross Gold Corp. declined 35 cents to $10.44.
Avion Gold Corp. has started production at its new underground mine at the Tabakoto gold deposit in Mali, West Africa, with average production anticipated to be about 470,000 tonnes of ore for the year. Its shares were down one cent to $1.47.
Elsewhere on the corporate front, London-based Vodafone Group PLC, the world’s largest mobile phone company, said Monday it is considering a possible bid for Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC.
Vodafone said it was "in the very early stages of evaluating the merits of a potential offer for CWW."
The Sunday Times suggested that Vodafone might offer 700 million pounds for Cable & Wireless, which had a market value of nearly 550 million pounds based on Friday’s closing price.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 4.15 points to 1,649.40, while the Nasdaq Canada index faded 0.09 points to 415.96
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups remained in the green through the day. Information technology issues surged 0.8%, consumer discretionaries grew 0.6%, and telecoms were 0.5% better.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by gold, sliding 0.6%, while materials faded 0.5%, and utilities were off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rose Monday after the Greek government approved a key austerity package, lifting hopes the nation will qualify for more bailout money and avoid a default.
The Dow Jones Industrials climbed 72.81 points to end the day at 12,874.
The S&P 500 advanced 9.13 points to 1,351.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq added 27.51 points to 2,931.39
U.S. financial stocks posted early gains in the wake of Greece's debt deal. Shares of Citigroup, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley were up more than 1%.
Shares of Apple briefly rose to an all-time high above $500 U.S. in early trading.
Separately, the computer and cellphone maker sued Motorola Mobility to try and prevent Motorola from blocking sales of iPhones in Germany, with Apple arguing that its iPhone 4S is protected by a license agreement with Qualcomm.
Meanwhile, EU regulators approved Google's $12.5-billion U.S. acquisition of Motorola.
Chesapeake Energy outlined its 2012 financial plan Monday, saying that it expects to receive $2 billion from two separate transactions in the next 60 days and plans to issue $1 billion in senior notes in a public offering.
Malkin Holdings LLC, which controls the Empire State Building, filed Monday for an initial public offering for a real estate investment trust (REIT) for the building. The filing puts the estimated value of the Empire State Building at $2.5 billion U.S, while the other two properties are worth about $1 billion U.S. between them.
Shares of Madison Square Garden spiked on hopes the parent company of the New York Knicks will benefit from enthusiasm about the team's new star player, Jeremy Lin.
Meanwhile, Monday had no reports on the U.S. economy. But the week ahead brings key data on retail sales, new-home construction and inflation.
The Greek Parliament voted early Monday to approve a package of austerity reforms, marking a key step toward securing a second bailout worth €130 billion from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Greece needs the money to avoid a potential default on a €14.5-billion bond redemption in March.
But the tone remains cautious as Greece must meet other conditions before euro-area finance ministers meet Wednesday, when they are expected to make a final decision on the bailout.
The vote came amid escalating public protests against the reforms, which include job and salary cuts for government workers, pension reforms and other measures to reduce government spending.
On the economic calendar, President Obama unveiled a $3.8-trillion U.S. budget request Monday that hikes taxes on the rich, spends new money on infrastructure and education, but does little to reform the entitlement programs that pose the biggest long-term threat to the federal budget.
The budget forecasts a deficit for fiscal year 2012 that will top $1.3 trillion U.S., before falling in 2013 to $901 billion U.S., or 5.5% of gross domestic product.
The release comes after heated debate over the past year about how the U.S. should balance aiding the economic recovery with its deficit-reduction needs.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note were off a bit, raising yields to 1.99% from Friday’s 1.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery gained $1.93 to $100.60 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery slipped eight cents to $1,724.50 U.S. an ounce.
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