Source: The Canadian Press

The Canadian dollar was down almost a full cent as the greenback recouped some recent losses amid ongoing uncertainties about how much new money the Federal Reserve is preparing to pump into the U.S. economy. The loonie was down 0.94 of a cent to 97.89 cents US.

U.S. futures also signalled a negative start to the week even as Citigoup announced results that beat expectations with the Dow Jones industrial futures down 40 points to 10,984, the Nasdaq futures lost 5.25 points to 2,089.75 while the S&P 500 futures dropped 4.9 points to 1,170.

There was also some major buying activity in the financial sector. Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) is acquiring British-based BlueBay Asset Management for more than $1.5 billion. BlueBay shareholders will be entitled to 485 pence in cash for each BlueBay share, a premium of 29% over the last closing price of BlueBay shares last Friday.

The transaction will be funded using RBC’s existing cash resources, and is not expected to have a material impact on RBC’s earnings per share in the near term.

Citigroup Inc. reported that quarterly profit rose to US$2.17 billion as provisions for bad loans declined. Net income amounted to seven cents a share, which beat analysts’ estimates by two cents and its shares were up about 1.5% in premarket trading in New York.

IBM Corp. and Apple Inc. release results after the market close.

IBM’s results should show if companies are spending more to upgrade technology and computers. Signs that companies are ramping up technology spending would be a good indication that they expect business to pick up in the coming quarters.

Apple’s results should show how much of an appetite consumers have for new gadgets. The iPod and iPad have been incredibly popular during the year even as many shoppers cut back elsewhere.

Oil prices fell to near US$81 a barrel Monday as a month-long rally lost momentum as the U.S. dollar recovered some ground.

The November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 13 cents to US$81.12 a barrel.

Metal prices also backed off with the December copper contract on the Nymex down three cents to US$3.81 a pound while the December bullion contract in New York was down $12 to US$1,360 an ounce.

Stock markets ended last week with modest gains after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke failed to offer investors much more clarity on what the central bank will announce the conclusion of its next rate-setting meeting on Nov. 3.

Though Bernanke said the case for another monetary stimulus was growing, he was quiet on the pace and size of any new measures.

Investors have become increasingly convinced the Fed will embark on another round of buying government bonds, a measure known as quantitative easing, in an effort to encourage lending.

However, the prospect of more dollars floating around the system has piled the pressure on the currency itself over the last few weeks. Some investors are now thinking that the market has priced in too much easing.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average ended more or less flat.

Chinese shares fell on massive profit-taking Monday, as caution set in after seven straight days of gains.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.2%.

London’s FTSE 100 index edged up 0.13%, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.28% while the Paris CAC 40 dipped 0.1%.

In other corporate news, the co-CEO of Research in Motion Ltd. (TSX:TRIM) says the BlackBerry maker is looking to vast high-tech opportunities in the United Arab Emirates after a brush with regulators seeking to ban some key features of the smart phone. Jim Balsillie offered no details of the deal this month to keep email and other BlackBerry services in the Emirates. The Gulf country had expressed security concerns because of the BlackBerry’s encryption protections.