Canada’s major indices managed modest gains amid strength in energy and the heavily weighted financials sector Monday, while U.S. markets were lower on news of rising oil prices and corporate reports.

At close the S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 20 points or 0.21%, at 9643.72 while TSX Venture exchange gave up 10.26 or 0.55% to 1838.55.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average slid 12.78 or 0.12% to 10448.56. Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 0.01, essentially flat, at 1181.21. The Nasdaq composite index lost 7.23 or 0.36% to 1992.12.

The Canadian dollar closed at US81.03¢, down 0.40 of a cent exhibiting weakness over the possibility of an early election amid softening support for the governing Liberal Party. Also, the Bank of Canada will issue a decision on interest rates at 9 a.m. (Eastern) on Tuesday.

After dropping as low as US$52.10 per barrel, light, sweet crude for May delivery settled 39¢ higher at US$53.71 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is more than $4 below the intraday peak set last Monday, though prices remain 42% above year ago levels.

On the TSX, energy stocks led all sectors, advancing 1.95%. Financials were also ahead, up 0.59%, as were industrial stocks, up 0.57%. Gold shares fell 0.90% and metals and mining issues slid 2.98% even though the price of gold added $1.70 in New York to $428.60.

Major movers in Toronto included BCE Inc., up 0.7% to $30.18, Bank of Nova Scotia, up 0.51% to $39.80 and Manulife Financial Corp., up 0.28% to $57.90. Placer Dome Inc. was among the bigger gold loser, falling 1.5% to $19.10.

In New York, U.S. stocks were mixed in choppy trading, with gains for Boeing and Procter & Gamble offset by weakness in General Motors shares after a profit warning from rival Ford Co.

In the broader market for equities, decliners outpaced advancers by 17 to 14 on the New York Stock Exchange, and by an 18 to 11 margin on the Nasdaq.

Ford shares tumbled 5.35% to $10.44 as investors bailed out of the carmaker after it warned late Friday its 2005 earnings would fall well short of its earlier estimates, torpedoing its $7 billion profit target for 2006.

GM shares fell 0.85% to $29.25.

Elsewhere, Boeing Co. shares climbed 1.37% to $59.40, buoyed by news that Korean Air has agreed to buy 10 B-787 Dreamliners for $1.3 billion at list prices. The airline has also put in an option for 10 additional 787s, potentially valuing the deal at $2.6 billion.