TORONTO - Traders are expected to remain focused Monday on U.S. talks over avoiding the "fiscal cliff," and that could keep the Toronto stock market from making any drastic moves.

The Canadian dollar edged up 0.06 of a cent to 101.45 cents US.

Budget negotiations inched forward over the weekend as House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner reportedly told President Barack Obama that he could be flexible on raising taxes on some wealthy earners in exchange for cuts to popular benefit programs cherished by Democrats.

In Canada, copper miner Inmet Mining Corp. (TSX:IMN) says it has yet to receive the $5.1-billion takeover bid that was announced by pursuer First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (TSX:FM) on Sunday. Inmet is urging shareholders to withhold taking action until it can evaluate the details.

In the financial sector, Sun Life Financial (TSX:SLF) has agreed to sell its U.S. annuity unit and certain life insurance businesses for US$1.35 billion to Delaware Life Holdings, a company owned by shareholders of Guggenheim Partners.

Meanwhile, commodity prices were mostly weaker.

The January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 25 cents to US$86.96 a barrel.

But March copper was down two cents at US$3.66 a pound while February gold bullion dipped 50 cents to US$1,696.50 an ounce.

South of the border, the first of several economic reports related to the housing market was released.

A survey of top business economists released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics showed that most believe that modest growth will be ongoing in 2013, led by rising demand for housing.

Based on the survey, NABE sees economic growth of 2.1 per cent after 2.2 per cent growth in 2012.

Dow Jones industrial futures were up 10 points to 12,097. The broader S&P futures added 1.8 points to 1,411 while the Nasdaq futures were down 5.25 points to 2,618.

On Tuesday NABE is expected to release its housing market index, while the U.S. government releases data on housing starts on Wednesday, followed by existing home sales on Thursday.

Overseas, Japanese shares outperformed all others on hopes that the new government will soon enact fresh stimulus measures.

The country's Nikkei 225 index jumped 0.9 per cent to close at 9,828.88, its highest level since April, after the country's Liberal Democratic party swept back into power with a landslide victory in weekend elections .

Elsewhere in Asia, China's shares fared fairly well as its new leaders promised more spending if needed to underpin a wobbly economic recovery. Those hopes helped the Shanghai Composite rise 0.4 per cent to 2,160.34 and the smaller Shenzhen Composite index to end 0.4 per cent higher to 819.58.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.4 per cent at 5,897 while Germany's DAX fell 0.2 per cent to 7,583. The CAC-40 in France was 0.6 per cent lower at 3,620.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2012