Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market appeared headed for a slightly lower open Monday as key commodities inched lower as investors gave a lukewarm reception to Europe’s approval of a US$90 billion Irish bailout package.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.03 of a cent to 98.01 cents US.

The January crude contract gained 74 cents at US$84.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The December copper contract on the Nymex was unchanged at US$3.76 while the December gold contract fell $3.20 to US$1359.20.

U.S. futures markets moved slightly lower after an early close Friday for the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend.

The Dow Jones futures were down two points at 11,028 and Nasdaq futures down 21 points to 2133.5. The S&P 500 futures were down 1.1 points to 1,182.10.

In the U.S., the National Retail Federation trade group has estimated that 212 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the first weekend of the holiday season, up from 195 million last year.

Online spending also rose more than 14% from Thanksgiving Day through Saturday, according to IBM’s Coremetrics. A fuller picture on spending will come Thursday when retailers report their November revenue.

Investors have been hoping that consumers, who have generally been spending cautiously since the recession, would feel more comfortable about shopping during the holidays. Many economists believe that consumers will have to spend more freely for the economy to put together a stronger recovery.

Traders seemed pleased with the results initially, but it’s too soon to tell if sales will remain strong through Christmas.

U.S. investors were also cautious as they awaited the week’s economic reports, including Friday’s Labor Department report on employment during November. Also due this week are the Conference Board’s survey of consumer confidence on Tuesday, and the Institute for Supply Management’s assessments of the manufacturing and services industries.

Meanwhile, the European Union agreed to give about US$90 billion in bailout loans to Ireland. European stocks fell on the news, and the euro hit a fresh two-month low.

Stocks were down on the continent after the European Union signed an international agreement Sunday to provide nearly $90 billion in rescue loans for Ireland. There are still concerns about other European countries, including Portugal and Spain.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 0.9%, while Germany’s DAX fell 1.1%, and France’s CAC-40 was 1% lower.