Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a lower open Monday as commodity prices backed off amid a stronger U.S. dollar.

A rising greenback pushed the Canadian dollar down 0.25 of a cent to 99.71 cents US.

U.S. futures indicated a lower start to the trading week with the Dow Jones industrial futures down 14 points to 11,362, the Nasdaq futures declined 4.25 points to 2,181 while the S&P 500 futures lost 3.4 points to 1,219.

Oil prices backed away after rising 6% last week, amid a weaker greenback and better than predicted U.S. job creation numbers for October which raised hopes for increased demand. The December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 45 cents to US$86.40 a barrel.

Copper prices were unchanged from Friday’s close of US$3.94 a pound while the December bullion contract on the Nymex declined $6.70 to US$1,391 an ounce.

The tepid start to the week follows strong gains on North American markets last week.

The TSX rose 2% while the Dow industrials gained 3% to their best levels since early September 2008, after the Federal Reserve said it would plow up to US$600 billion more into the financial system to lower interest rates and encourage lending.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed up 1.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.4%.

In China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.9%, to hit its highest close since April.

London’s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.37%, Frankfurt’s DAX was off 0.2% while the Paris CAC 40 inched 0.11% lower.

On the corporate front, Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) is expanding its presence in the Asia-Pacific region by buying Fortis Wealth Management Hong Kong Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis Bank. The price wasn’t disclosed.

Some of Canada’s largest banks have been ramping up their operations in China, as part of an effort to grab a share of the country’s rapidly growing middle class.