TORONTO - The Toronto stock market was looking to move lower at the open Monday as optimism from the Greek elections took a back seat to another round of concern about Spain.

The Canadian dollar dropped 0.46 of a cent to 97.37 cents US.

Oil prices weakened with the July contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange down $1.22 to US$82.81 a barrel.

Bullion prices dropped $9 to US$1,619.10 an ounce while July copper edged up one cent to US$3.40 a pound.

U.S. futures were also weaker with the Dow Jones industrial futures were down 55 points to 12,655. The Nasdaq futures dropped 4.5 points to 2,560 and the S&P 500 futures lost 5.75 points to 1,331.75.

European stock markets briefly rose Monday after elections in Greece eased fears of global financial turmoil, but any euphoria wore thin by midday — a reminder that the crisis shaking the 17 countries that use the euro is far from over.

A narrow victory on Sunday by Greek conservatives, who favour upholding an austerity program that their country entered into in exchange for an international bailout, relaxed fears that Greece would be forced out of the euro. A return by Greece to its old currency, the drachma, would have caused turmoil across Europe and beyond.

European stocks were slightly higher by midday. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.28 per cent while Germany's DAX added 0.66 per cent and France's CAC-40 fell 0.39 per cent.

Asian stocks greeted the developments in Greece enthusiastically.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.9 per cent to 8,721.02 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose one per cent to 19,427.81. Australia's S&P/ASX200 added two per cent to 4,136.90, while South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.8 per cent at 1,891.71.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 per cent to 2,316.05. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.1 per cent to 964.71.

In Canada, Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX:YRI) announced the acquisition Monday of Extorre Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX:XG), a miner with a promising gold-silver project in Argentina for about $400 million. Yamana will pay $3.50 in cash and 0.467 of a Yamana share for each Extorre share, while also saying it plans to increase its dividend by 18 per cent.

Celestica Inc. (TSX:CLS) said it will wind down manufacturing services for Research in Motion (TSX:RIM) over the next three to six months. Celestica says it has been working with RIM as the troubled BlackBerry maker assesses its supply chain strategy.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2012