Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market will be hunting for direction Monday as Canadian investors contend with an American holiday and no new economic data.

Last week, the TSX fell more than 4% as several pieces of weak economic news raised fears of a so-called double-dip recession in the U.S.

Those concerns could continue to pressure markets on both sides of the border this week, as there will be little new data available to inspire investors.

U.S. markets took a day off in observation of the Independence Day holiday after seven straight days of declines on the Dow Jones industrial average, the index’s longest losing streak since the height of the financial crisis in October 2008.

The August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Europe edged up 18 cents to US$72.32, while the price of gold added $1 to US$1,208.70.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.17 of a cent to 93.96 cents US.

In Canadian corporate news, Specialty food producer Premium Brands Holdings Corp. (TSX:PBH) said Monday it has acquired a 76% interest in Toronto-based Maximum Seafood. Financial terms of the deal were not released.

And Nord Resources Corp. (TSX:NRD) said it has suspended mining and crushing at its Johnson Camp mine near Tucson, Ariz., laying off 43 people or about half of the mine’s workforce.

World stocks were mixed Monday in light trading, with some markets dragged down by a disappointing jobs report in the U.S. and concerns over bank lending and slackening growth in China.

Shares in Europe generally headed lower in early trading, with the key British FTSE 100 down 0.3% to 4,823.04 and the CAC 40 in Paris lower by 0.1% to 3,346.15. Germany’s DAX was up 3.66 points to 5,837.71.

Investor anxiety hit Asia as well. While key indexes in Japan and South Korea closed slightly up, Hong Kong and Shanghai ended in negative territory – with traders watching pessimistically from the sidelines, waiting out Monday’s holiday in the U.S. amid a scarcity of positive economic news.

Premier Wen Jiabao, China’s top economic official, said over the weekend its recovery is facing more problems than expected. Indicators from manufacturing to auto sales suggest economic growth might slow.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index added 0.7%, to 9,266.78 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.3% to 19,842.20.