Falling oil prices helped take investors’ minds off the election, sending U.S. markets higher but knocking down Canadian stocks.

At midday, the S&P/TSX was down 22.27 points or 0.31% at 8843.7 and the TSX Venture Exchange slipped 14.69 or 0.92% at 1615.33. The Dow Jones industrial was ahead 20.73 points or 0.21% to 10048.20, off its morning high of about 40 points, but extending its winning streak from last week. The Nasdaq was up 3.5 or 0.18% and the S&P/TSX advanced slightly, 0.45 of a point to 1130.65.

The Canadian dollar was off 0.23 of a cent at US81.87¢.

In New York, the New York Mercantile Exchange’s crude oil futures fell below US$50 a barrel Monday morning in a flurry of technical selling ahead of the U.S. presidential elections on Tuesday. NYMEX crude for December delivery skidded $2.36 to US$49.40 a barrel which marked the lowest since Oct. 1’s $49.20.

The drop came despite problems in Nigeria, the fifth-largest source of U.S. crude. The country’s main labour union called for a countrywide strike Nov. 16 at the country’s largest petroleum producer – Royal Dutch/Shell Group – in a protest over local increases in fuel costs.

The slide in crude prices pulled down energy stocks on the TSX; they were off 1.15%. Gold issues also were down, by 1.83%, despite a slight rise in COMEX gold futures, By mid-morning, December gold climbed US$1.30 to US$430.70 an ounce at the NYMEX.

Technology stocks were the only issues showing much sign of life Monday morning, advancing 1.6%. Industrials were up 0.11% led by shares of CAE Inc., which gained 2¢ or 0.40% to $5.01 after it announced it is selling its marine controls until to L-3 Communications Corp. for $328 million.

In New York, stocks also may have got a boost from a report on consumer spending. The Commerce Department said that consumers, who substantially slowed down their spending in late summer, roared back to life in September, boosting their purchases by 0.6%. The gain in spending reported Monday by the government far outpaced the increase in incomes. The Commerce report attributed the spending surge to a big jump in purchases of big-ticket products such as cars, reflecting the fact that auto dealers brought back popular sales incentives.

Within the benchmark index, Merck was the biggest percentage decliner, sliding more than 8%, on a Wall Street Journal Report it downplayed the health risks of Vioxx, its recently-withdrawn arthritis drug. Fellow Dow component and drug maker Pfizer fell 1.2%. The company has also had to fend off accusations over the safety of its two arthritis drugs, Celebrex and Bextra.

But analysts said investors remained cautious ahead of a Presidential election race which is too close to call.

Overseas, London’s FTSE 100 index was 45.2 points ahead at 4,669.4.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 edged up 0.7% while the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.6%.

Asian stock markets closed generally higher, but prices slipped in Tokyo on the back of recent strength in the Japanese currency.

Tokyo’s Nikkei stock average of 225 issues lost 36.71 points, or 0.34% to 10,734.15.

In Hong Kong, shares closed slightly higher on bargain hunting. The key Hang Seng Index rose 39.59 points, or 0.3% to 13,094.25.