Toronto stocks were slightly weaker Monday as the strong Canadian dollar and higher oil prices weighed on the market. Shortly before midday, the S&P/TSX composite index was off 21.61 points, or 0.25%, at 8,937.39. Volume was 82 million shares.

Seven of the 10 main TSX groups were lower.

The heavily weighted financial group was up just 0.01%, as bank earnings season starts tomorrow.

Bank of Montreal, which will be the first to report earnings on Tuesday, was up 21¢, or 0.36%, at $58.11. CIBC was up 31¢ at $72.38 and National Bank was ahead 30¢ at $48.35. TD, Scotiabank and Royal Bank were all lower, however.

The consumer staples and utilities groups also posted small gains.

Technology stocks fell 1.8%.

Nortel Networks was down 1.8% at $3.83, while Celestica shares fell 2.3% to $17.64.

Among industrial stocks, Bombardier was down 5.19% at $2.56 following news of a fatal air crash in China involving one of its regional jets. However, the firm also announced two orders worth about $161 million to supply an automatic train control system to the Madrid Metro

Gold and energy issues eked out gains, with gold miners up 0.02%, and oil and gas companies up 0.2%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was up 5.95 points, or 0.35%, at 1,713.03. Volume was 35 million shares.

The Canadian dollar rose to a 12-year high on Monday, buoyed by better than expected retail sales figures and Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge’s remarks that the domestic currency’s recent rise versus the greenback was not inappropriate.

The Canadian dollar was trading at US84.20¢, up from US83.82¢, at Friday’s close.

Canadian retail sales rose a higher than expected 0.2% in September, Statistics Canada said today. Economists had expected no change from August.

In New York, rising oil prices and continued weakness in the U.S. dollar pushed stocks lower at midday.

Crude oil futures crept up 22¢ to US$49.11, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The U.S. dollar was little changed against the euro and the Japanese yen, remaining near its historic lows.

Just before midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 17.74, or 0.17%, to 10,439.17.

Broader stock indicators were modestly lower. The S&P 500 index was down 1.51 points at 1,168.83, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 8.57, or 0.4%, to 2,062.06.

Shares of Google Inc. fell $6.46 to US$162.94 as the company’s founders and top executives filed plans to sell 16.6 million shares over the next 18 months, unnerving investors who fear such an influx of stock could drive share prices lower.