Source: The Canadian Press

Energy stocks helped push the Toronto stock market lower Monday amid falling oil prices and dealmaking that will see a major Chinese company buy a piece of the Canadian oilsands sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index moved down 28.18 points to 12,148.66. The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 6.9 points to 1,673.67.

The Toronto market’s energy component was down 0.2% after U.S. energy giant ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) announced Monday it plans to sell its 9.03% interest in Syncrude Canada Ltd. to China’s Sinopec for US$4.65 billion.

“What it shows is all the majors have heard of Canadian oilsands, they’re all interested and it’s a matter of being there because it is a huge resource,” said Colin Ciezynski, market analyst at CMC Canada.

“What do the big majors want? They want big, long-life reserves. The Canadian oilsands fit that to a T.”

Shares in Syncrude’s largest partner _ Canadian Oil Sands Trust (TSX:COS.UN), which owns a 37% stake in the project _ jumped $1.52 or 4.95% to $32.22, giving the company a market value of almost $16 billion.

Some observers had pegged Canadian Oil Sands Trust as the most likely buyer of the ConocoPhillips interest, but that had been weighing on the stock because of fears it might overpay for the added stake.

The May crude contract on the New York declined 58 cents to US$84.34 a barrel.

On the TSX Venture Exchange, Petro Vista Energy Corp. (TSXV:PTV.V) shares surged 8.5 cents or 39.53% to 30 cents following a positive drilling report on its Tartaruga Block in Brazil. It expects to initiate production within the next two weeks.

TSX gold stocks led decliners as the June bullion contract on the Nymex gained 30 cents to US$1,162.20 an ounce. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) declined 59 cents to C$40.90.

Gammon Gold Inc. (TSX:GAM) shares were ahead 48 cents to $7.70 after it said two separate problems at its Ocampo mine in Mexico had a negative impact on its first-quarter financial results and pulled down production. The Halifax-based company said Monday that 36,546 gold equivalent ounces were produced in the quarter versus 41,997 ounces in the same period a year earlier.

The base metals sector dropped 0.75% as May copper shed three cents to US$3.56 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) lost 59 cents to C$45.44.

The consumer staples sector made headway as shares in convenience store owner Alimentation Couche Tarde (TSX:ATD.B) improved by 73 cents or 3.86% to $19.63. The stock ran ahead 4% Friday after it announced a US$1.8-billion cash offer for American convenience store chain Casey’s General Stores.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.07 of a cent to 99.67 cents US.

Trading had been weak during the session despite high hopes pinned on the first-quarter earnings season, which started off with a report from aluminum giant Alcoa Inc.

After the markets closed, the company announced earnings of 10 cents a share, which met expectations and were a big improvement over the 59 cents a share it lost a year ago.

Chip company Intel Corp., JPMorgan Chase, Google and General Electric also hand in earnings reports this week. The bulk of Canadian major public companies begin to issue first-quarter results in about three weeks.

Stocks have been rising steadily this year as reports show steady but slow economic growth. Hopes are high that earnings will reflect growth that comes from higher sales and not just from cost cutting.

There was also relief amid news of a new bailout plan for Greece. Over the weekend, European leaders agreed to make loans available to Greece to help the country deal with its high debt.

The 16 countries that use the euro agreed to provide euro30 billion (US$40.49 billion) in loans to Greece if the country needs the money. The International Monetary Fund would contribute an additional euro10 billion (US$13.5 billion) if needed.

The loans would carry interest rates below what private lenders had been demanding in recent days to hold Greek debt.

“Now it’s not a huge lift because people have been expecting for several months now that at some point, they were going to have to step up and help out Greece,” Cieszynski said.

“Now we’re at the point where it’s not a bad thing because they have outlined exactly how much money will be available but they haven’t actually needed it, which is a good thing.”

On the economic front, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported that housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 197,300 units, down about 3,000 from a revised February reading.