The Toronto stock market was set to start the week higher as investors looked to a heavy slate of earnings results from most of the big Canadian banks.
The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 4.65 points to close Friday at 14,205.75, ending a winning streak at 12 straight sessions.
National Bank kicks off the earnings rundown after the market close. All the big banks registered record annual profits last year but analysts believe this year will be more challenging amid a fading housing market.
The Bank of Montreal follows on Tuesday, Royal Bank reports Wednesday while TD Bank and CIBC report Thursday. Scotiabank reports March 4.
Elsewhere on the corporate front, BlackBerry Ltd says it will make its BBM text messaging system available to two more types of smartphones, those running the Windows operating system and the Nokia X platform.
The company has already made BlackBerry Messenger available to Apple iPhones and Android devices. BlackBerry has been expanding the reach of BBM as a way to maintain loyal client organizations.
Statistics Canada releases growth data for December and the fourth quarter on Friday. Economists looked for the economy to contract by 0.3% in December, largely because of crippling ice storms in Ontario and Quebec towards the end of the month. Growth for the quarter is reckoned to come in at 2.5%
The Canadian dollar nicked ahead 0.10 cents U.S. early Monday to 90.14 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was positive 6.73 points Friday to 1,021.66.
ON WALLSTREET
Markets were looking steady heading into the new trading week as investors shrug off weakness in Asia.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials added 11 points, or 0.1%, to 16,104. Futures for the S&P 500 gained 4.9 points, or 0.3%, to 1,839.20, and futures for the NASDAQ tacked on nine points, or 0.3%, at 3,673.50
There's little economic or corporate news on the docket Monday.
Investors may have to wait for U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's testimony before the Senate on Thursday to provide another jolt to the market.
U.S. investors may also be feeling optimistic after the G20 -- the world's 19 richest nations and the European Union -- pledged to install policies that will add $2 trillion U.S. to the world economy over the next five years.
In the corporate world, Comcast said Sunday that it will allow Netflix to connect directly to its broadband network, allowing for faster streaming.
Shares in HSBC were declining in London after the bank reported earnings that came in below market expectations.
Shares in Groupon look set for a small recovery after taking a 22% dive Friday. Shareholders pressed the sell button last week after the company warned it was expecting to report a loss in the first quarter.
On the earnings front, Solar City and Live Nation will report after the closing bell.
After starting the day on the back foot, European markets were mixed. The FTSE 100 in London was being held back by HSBC.
Stocks in Asia were soft Monday as some investors worried about potential problems within China's red-hot property market.
Most Asian markets moved lower Monday, with the Shanghai Composite leading the losers with a 1.8% drop.
Oil prices backed off seven cents to $102.14 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices hiked $9.30 to $1,332.90 U.S. an ounce.
