The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market could find buoyancy at the open from higher commodity prices as traders get back to work following a long weekend.

The Canadian dollar moved 0.35 of a cent higher to US95.68¢.

U.S. futures also pointed to a positive open after a three-day hiatus with the Dow Jones industrial futures ahead 12 points to 10,129, the Nasdaq futures gained points to while the S&P 500 futures were up two points to 1,081.

The March crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange advanced $1.09 to US$75.22 a barrel.

The April gold contract on the Nymex rose US$22.20 to US$1,112.20 an ounce while March copper in New York climbed seven cents to US$3.15 a pound.

Investors will also be looking to the financial sector after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tightened rules for homebuyers because of concern Canadians may be taking on too much debt.

One change will see borrowers required to meet the standards for getting a five-year fixed mortgage, even if they are just opting for a cheaper, variable rate instrument.

Flaherty also announced plans to raise the downpayment that borrowers must pay for speculative investments. And he’s putting on tighter restrictions on how much money people can borrow against their houses.

European markets were weak following new plans by European Union leaders to push Greece to contain its growing debt problems. European leaders on Monday said Greece will have another month to come up with a plan to reduce its deficit, but again pledged to support the debt-burdened country.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.29%, Frankfurt’s DAX was off 0.03% and the Paris CAC 40 inched up 0.09%.

Greece has promised to reduce its budget gap from 12.7% of gross domestic product to 8.7% this year as it attempts to dampen market fears that it could eventually default on its debt and/or require a bailout from the 16 countries that use the euro.

Markets have been dragged down in recent weeks because of concerns that mounting debt in Greece and some other European nations, such as Portugal and Spain, would spread and squash a global economic recovery.

In U.S. earnings news, Kraft Foods Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch both reported fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ expectations. Drugmaker Merck & Co. said its profit jumped because of its purchase of longtime partner Schering-Plough Corp.

Illinois-based fertilizer producer CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CF) reported that it earned US$51.4 million in the fourth quarter, equivalent to $1.04 per share. That was down from $190.1 million or $3.59 per share in the comparable period of 2008. CF’s revenue was down 53%, falling to $506.7 million. Calgary-based rival Agrium Inc. (TSX:AGU) has made a $5.2-billion hostile bid for CF. The offer expires Feb. 22.

Meanwhile, Norwegian fertilizer company Yara International ASA said Monday it has agreed to acquire U.S. competitor Terra Industries Inc. for US$4.1 billion. Last month, CF Industries dropped its hostile bid for Terra after a year-long effort to take over its rival.

In Canada, First Uranium Corporation (TSX:FIU, JSE:FUM) said it lost $14.4 million in its third quarter. That compares to a profit of $1.3 million in the year-ago period.

In Asia, markets ended modestly higher though trading levels were extremely low while there were holidays in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.2% and South Korea’s Kospi gained 7.39, or 0.5%.