Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market could find some lift from the energy sector Monday as oil prices headed higher and investors wonder if the unrest in Egypt could spread to other countries in the region.

The Canadian dollar gained against the American currency, up 0.24 of a cent to 100.13 cents. The loonie closed below parity for the first time this year on Friday as investors looking for a safe haven sold equities and bought into the U.S. dollar and commodities.

U.S. futures pointed to a slightly higher open with the Dow futures ahead 22 points to 11,797, the Nasdaq futures gained seven points to 2,275 and the S&P 500 futures climbed 5.3 points to 1,276.

As protests continued against the rule of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarek, the prospect of disrupted oil supplies helped push the March crude contract on 38 cents to US$89.72.

Nervous traders pushed oil up almost US$4 on Friday amid worries that the Suez Canal, a key route for oil tankers and cargo ships, may be closed and that the unrest could spread.

“The most pressing concern for global markets is the potential for knock-on effects on oil flow if turmoil starts to spread from Egypt across other countries in the region,” said Jane Foley, an analyst at Rabobank International.

Gold prices backed off after rising almost US$22 on Friday as traders looked for a safe haven going into the weekend. The April bullion contract on the Nymex declined $8.50 to US$1,333.20 an ounce.

Copper prices advanced with the March contract on the Nymex up four cents to US$4.41 a pound.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average dropped 1.2% to its lowest close since Jan. 3. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4% and South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.8%.

But China’s Shanghai Composite index gained 1.4% amid some last-minute buying ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year that will shut down trading Feb. 2-8. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China’s smaller, second market rose one per cent.

London’s FTSE 100 index dipped 0.36%, Frankfurt’s DAX was down 0.21% while the Paris CAC 40 was off 0.04% amid news of higher inflation pressures.

Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said that consumer prices were 2.4% higher in January than the year before — a 27-month high. January’s increase was up from December’s 2.2% gain and ahead of expectations for a 2.3% rate. No further details were provided but higher energy and commodity costs are expected to have been behind the rise. A more detailed picture of inflation during the month will be published later in February.

In corporate news, Canadian oil company Sea Dragon Energy Inc. (TSXV:SDX) says anti-government protests rocking Egypt have so far had very little effect on its field operations in the country.

In an update aimed at reassuring shareholders, the Calgary-based company said the protests are centred in major cities and “therefore have little or no impact on the company’s field operations in Kom Ombo and northwest Gemsa” in the desert.

And energy giant ExxonMobil reported quarterly earnings of US$1.85 a share, much higher than analyst estimates of US$1.63 a share. Revenues came in at US$105.2 billion against estimates of US$99.11 billion and its shares were up 1.15% in pre-market trading in New York.