Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto Stock Exchange appeared headed for a somewhat lower open Monday as commodity prices were little changed on mixed international sentiment.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.27 cents to 99.36 cents US.

The January crude contract slipped 10 cents to US$89.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The February gold contract added $9.00 to US$1,415.20. The March copper contract lost a cent to US$3.99.

U.S. futures markets were depressed after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s interview over the weekend in which he suggested that the economy is still weak and stimulus measures could be boosted.

Dow futures fell 19 points to 11345, with Nasdaq futures down seven points to 2,180.25. S&P 500 futures fell 3.80 to 1,219.7.

He said the U.S. central bank is prepared to buy even more than $600 billion in Treasury bonds over the next eight months if necessary to boost economic growth. That might trigger an influx of money into the markets of developing Asian economies as investors seek better returns.

However, Bernanke in a taped interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday also commented that the economy is still struggling to become “self-sustaining” without government help are weighing on stock prices. He also said it could take four or five more years for unemployment, now at 9.8%, to fall to a historically normal 5% or 6%

Meanwhile, Canadian investors are awaiting the last interest rate policy announcement of the year from Canada’s central bank on Tuesday.

Economists expect that Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney isn’t going to increase interest. In these sensitive times, as economic and job growth stall, few see any reason to raise the rates at the central bank’s next meeting.

Analysts say the big question is when to raise rates.

It will be a quiet day for economic data, with Canadian building permits being the sole piece of data being released. More Canadian housing data is on its way this week with housing starts on Wednesday and new home prices on Thursday.

World stocks mostly fell Monday as Europe’s debt crisis loomed over markets, offsetting any optimism generated by Bernanke’s suggestion that stimulus measures could be boosted.

In Europe, finance ministers from the 16-nation euro zone gathered to discuss ways to stabilize their currency union and avoid more expensive bailouts. Two top officials called for the creation of a new pan-European bond, while others will seek a boost to the bailout fund.

Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.2%, while Germany’s DAX shed 0.05%. France’s CAC40 was down 0.5%.