The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a lower open on Monday as sovereign debt concerns again pushed the U.S. dollar higher and sent commodity prices lower.

U.S. futures pointed to a weak opening as the Dow Jones industrial futures fell 52 points to 10,635, the Nasdaq composite futures declined 11 points to 1,921.25 and the S&P 500 futures were down 8.6 points to 1,147.7.

The Greek debt crisis continued to attract investor attention after Germany’s chancellor said on Sunday that a bailout for Greece won’t be discussed at a European summit this week. Greece has said in recent days if other European countries do not provide support, it might turn to the International Monetary Fund for help.

Investors are worried that Greece and other European nations that use the euro, such as Spain and Portugal, could struggle to recover as they try to pay down steep debt. That could derail a global economic recovery.

The Canadian dollar backed away as the U.S. dollar attracted nervous traders and gained strength against a number of currencies. The loonie was down 0.42 of a cent to US97.97 cent.

Commodity prices also wilted under the weight of a stronger greenback with the April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved down $1.42 to US$79.26 a barrel.

The April gold contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped $6 to US$1,101.6 an ounce while May copper was down five cents to US$3.33 a pound.

Investors will be looking for reaction to the U.S. government’s passage of a sweeping package of health-care legislation over the weekend. The reform, which was passed narrowly by the House of Representatives, will create near-universal medical coverage and extend benefits to 32 million uninsured Americans.

Further weighing on investor sentiment Monday was an unexpected decision by India’s central bank at the end of last week to raise interest rates. The quarter-point hike to cool high inflation unnerved investors concerned growth and asset prices could sink once governments start winding down their stimulus measures.

India’s move was unexpected while the Bank of Canada has been telegraphing for months that it planned to raise interest rates sometime after mid-2010. Confirmation of low inflation came last Friday when Statistics Canada said consumer prices rose 1.6 per cent last month — slightly above expectations — following a 1.9 per cent increase the previous month.

Stocks in Asia suffered, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plunging 2.1 per cent. Japanese markets were closed for a national holiday. Australia’s market fell 0.9 per cent and India’s Sensex dropped 0.7 per cent.

London’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.97 per cent, Frankfurt’s DAX lost 0.92 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 dropped 1.09 per cent.

In corporate news, Osisko Mining Corp. (TSX:OSK) plans to acquire Hammond Reef gold project in Ontario through a takeover of Brett Resources Inc. of Vancouver (TSXV:BBR) in a all-stock deal valued at $372 million.

Osisko is offering 0.34 of one of its common shares for each share of Brett. Based on a Friday closing prices, Osisko’s offer is worth $2.92 per share — a premium to Brett’s market price of $2.09 on the TSX Venture Exchange.