The Toronto stock market was in for a negative open Monday after elections in France and Greece over the weekend resulted in another round of uncertainty about Europe's debt crisis.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 143.67 points, or 1.2%, to close Friday at 11,871.23
The Canadian dollar traded this morning down 0.06 cents to 100.47 cents U.S.
Economic concerns tended to overshadow a series of positive earnings reports last week from BCE Inc. insurer Manulife Financial, Suncor Energy and Barrick Gold Corp.
It was light on the earnings calendar Monday with Cargojet Inc. reporting that net income dropped to $30,000 or nil per share in the three months ended March 31. That compares to $1.3 million or 16 cents per share a year ago. Revenues weakened to $40.1 million from $41.1 million in the comparable period first-quarter results were affected by a continuation of declining volumes in its key overnight cargo services.
The pace picks up later in the week when food company and Loblaw majority share owner George Weston reports on Tuesday, home improvement retailer Rona, HudBay Minerals and Tim Hortons and pipeline company Enbridbge hand in earnings on Wednesday. Insurer Sun Life Financial and Canadian Tire report on Thursday.
Elsewhere in corporate news, Bank of Montreal is setting up an office in the United Arab Emirates. The move expands its asset management and investment banking services to clients in the Middle East and North Africa.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 11.44 points to 1,405.10, while the Nasdaq Canada fell 4.71 points to 389.74.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. index futures were down with about 30 minutes before markets open, suggesting that stocks will fall at the start of trading. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were down 56 points or 0.4%. Futures for the broader S&P 500 were down 4.4 points, or 0.3%, to 1,358.10. Futures for the tech-rich Nasdaq doffed 10 points, or 0.4%, to 2,615.50
In Europe, Germany's DAX index was down 0.6% and France's CAC index was down 0.3%. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.8% in overnight trading.
The moves follow French presidential elections, which saw incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy lose to socialist Francois Hollande, raising uncertainties about how the new leader will deal with pressure to cut spending and to what extent he will cooperate with Germany in leading the euro-zone along a path toward austerity. Elections in Greece also showed an austerity backlash, with voters rejecting the country's two main incumbent political parties.
On Monday, commodity prices followed stocks. Crude oil fell 0.6%, to $97.86 U.S. a barrel. Gold fell 0.4%, to $1,640 U.S. an ounce.
