Business

The Toronto stock market was set for a lower session Monday as buying sentiment continued to take a hit from Friday's disappointing U.S. jobs data and word from the International Monetary Fund that it was downgrading its economic forecast.

The Canadian dollar moved down 0.2 of a cent to 97.97 cents US.

U.S. futures were firmly in the red after the data showed that the economy only cranked out an average of 75,000 jobs a month during the second quarter, down sharply from 226,000 in the January-March period.

IMF managing director Christine Legarde didn't mention exactly how much the IMF would trim from its earlier forecast.

But the two data points were enough to further persuade traders that economic growth is faltering around the globe.

The Dow Jones industrial futures fell 55 points to 12,672, the Nasdaq futures were down 6.25 points to 2,602.75 and the S&P 500 futures lost 6.1 points to 1,345.7.

The weak jobs report on Friday increases pressure on the Federal Reserve to implement monetary stimulus measures known as quantitative easing. The release later this week of the minutes of the last Fed meeting might show whether the Fed is leaning toward more stimulus to boost growth.

There was one bit of positive news Monday morning.

Inflation figures for China showed the consumer price index at its lowest since January 2010. That will give Beijing leeway to continue adding stimulus to fight an economic slowdown. China is scheduled to release its latest trade numbers Tuesday and retail sales, industrial production and gross domestic product on Friday. In a surprise move, China last week cut interest rates for a second time in a month.

Commodity prices were higher after diminished demand prospects pushed prices for oil and metals down sharply on Friday.

The August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 28 cents to US$84.73 a barrel after sliding $2.77 at the end of last week.

The September copper contract edged up a penny to US$3.41 a pound following an eight-cent fall. Bullion started to recover from Friday's $30 decline, up $4.50 to US$1,583.40 an ounce.