Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a negative start to fourth quarter trading Monday as commodity prices sunk amid another round of worries that Greece won’t be able to get the extra funds needed to avoid a default.

The Canadian dollar was little changed, down 0.01 of a cent to 95.39 cents US.

U.S. futures pointed to losses at the open with the Dow Jones industrial futures 37 points lower at 10,804, the Nasdaq futures lost 13.2 points to 2,121.2 while the S&P 500 futures eased 3.5 points to 1,122.5.

Worries about Greece came to the fore after the government said the country’s economy will remain in recession next year, causing it to miss its original deficit reduction targets.

The 2012 draft budget says Greece’s debts are projected to reach 172.7% of gross domestic product in 2012 while the deficit will drop to 6.8%, which is above the 6.5% originally agreed with international bailout creditors.

Debt inspectors from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission, known as the troika, are in Athens reviewing reforms to see if Greece qualifies to receive the next euro8 billion instalment of its bailout. Without it, Greece will run out of funds in mid-October.

A default would have serious repercussions for the European banking system and likely derail what is already a fragile economic recovery and send it into recession.

A recession would lower demand for oil, copper and other resources Canada produces. That would weaken exports and squeeze profits in Corporate Canada _ eroding a main driver of share prices on the resource-heavy TSX.

A stronger American dollar and demand worries sent oil well below the US$80 a barrel mark and copper prices to a 14-month low.

The November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.15 to US$78.05 a barrel.

The December copper contract lost 10 cents to US$3.06 a pound.

However, investors looking for safety pushed gold prices higher and the December bullion contract in New York gained $35.70 to US$1,658 an ounce.

North American stock markets ended last week up about 150 points. But the TSX and the Dow industrials both plunged about 12% during the third quarter amid increasing frustration and lack of confidence that European leaders can get a handle on the eurozone’s government debt crisis. Investors also worry that the global recovery is fast running out of momentum.

Investors looked forward to the release of the latest snapshot of the American manufacturing sector later in the morning. Economists believe the Institute for Supply Management’s September index will show the group still expanding _ but barely. They expect the index will come in at 50.4, slightly lower than the August reading of 50.6.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 4.4% while Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.8% even after a government survey showing an improvement in business confidence among Japanese manufacturers. Meanwhile China’s main index in Shanghai declined 0.3%.

London’s FTSE 100 index fell 1.44%, Frankfurt’s DAX dropped 2.56% while the Paris CAC 40 was down 1.94%.

On the corporate front, Birchcliff Energy Ltd. (TSX:BIR) said Monday it has begun shopping around for a buyer after receiving unsolicited expressions of interest. The Calgary company’s board did not disclose who the parties were, or how many had expressed interest. Birchcliff currently has production of about 19,250 barrels of oil equivalent per day.