Financial stocks kept Bay Street in the black, offsetting lower energy stocks, Monday morning, while Wall Street was mostly unchanged after its biggest weekly rally in three months.

At midday, Toronto’s S&P/TSX index was up 33.75 points or 0. 36% at 9392.03. The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.81 points or 0.026% at 1832.21. On Wall Street, the Dow industrials were ahead by 10.72 points or 0.10% to 10726.85. The Nasdaq slipped 1.61 points or 0.08% at 2085.05, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.31 of a point at 1202.72.

The Canadian dollar continued to slide, losing 0.47 of a cent to US79.62¢. The loonie hasn’t closed below 80 cents US since October.

In economic news, Statistics Canada said the housing sector ended 2004 on a strong note with the value of building permits rising 1.6% from November to hit $5.1 billion in December. The value of permits was the second-highest on record, surpassed only by June’s $5.4-billion showing.

On the markets, the TSX financial sub-group led the way higher, adding 1.41%. Among the larger gainers was Bank of Nova Scotia, up 61¢ to $39.35, Bank of Montreal, up $1.10 to $565.17, Manulife Financial Corp., up 75¢ to $56.21, and Dundee Bancorp, up $1.16 to $27.

Energy shares were off 0.42% as the price of crude dipped. U.S. crude oil futures fell 93¢ to below US$45.60 a barrel after OPEC producers signaled the cartel could wait until its meeting in mid-March to consider cutting production.

The TSX gold sub-group was off 1.68% and tech shares lost 0.32%.

Among gold stocks, Glamis Gold Ltd., Goldcorp Inc and Wheaton River Minerals were active amid takeover talk. Glamis said it is sweetening its takeover bid for Toronto-based Goldcorp ahead of a crucial vote scheduled for Thursday. Nevada-based Glamis is increasing the offer price to 0.92 of a Glamis common share for each Goldcorp common share, from 0.89 of a share. That boosts the offer by US49¢ a share. Goldcorp shareholders vote on a proposed merger with Vancouver-based Wheaton River Minerals on Thursday

Glamis shares lost 40¢ to $20.10, Goldcorp shares slid 34¢ to $17.05 and Wheaton River shares dipped 10¢ to $4.00.

In New York, U.S. stocks were little changed on Monday, as a mixed batch of earnings reports gave investors little direction, while a slip in oil prices helped support equities in general.

Toy maker Hasbro Inc. fell about 2% to US$20.05 after its profit missed Wall Street’s profit target. But consumer products group Clorox Co. rose 1.8% to US$59.65 after its results topped Wall Street estimates, with quarterly profit rising more than six-fold. Meanwhile, payroll processing company Paychex Inc. rose 2% to US$30.54, after UBS Investment Research raised its investment rating on to “buy” from “neutral”.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues gained 139.46 points, or 1.2% to end at 11499.86.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 209.83 points, or 1.5% to 13795 — the highest close since Jan. 4.

London’s FTSE headed 35.1 points higher to 4,976.6.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 climbed 25.44 to 4,364.72 while the Paris CAC 40 moved up 17.01 points to 3,975.02.