North American stock markets started the week lower on fading hopes of U.S. interest rate cuts later this month.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 79.04 points at 16,462.95.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 115.98 points at 26,806.14. The S&P 500 index was down 14.46 points at 2,975.95, while the Nasdaq composite was down 63.41 points at 8,098.38.

The Canadian dollar traded for an average of US76.45¢ compared with an average of US76.34¢ on Friday.

The August crude contract was up US15¢ at US$57.66 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was down US1.5¢ at US$2.40 per mmBTU.

The August gold contract was down US10¢ at US$1,400 an ounce and the September copper contract was down US0.2¢ US$2.66 a pound.