The TSX started the trading week with a 31.86 point climb to 11,746.07, amid a lacklustre day for oil and gold, while the TSX Venture eked out an 8.48 point gain to close at 1,403.46.

Several TSX subsectors ended the day in positive territory, including the financials sector, which added 0.9% and energy, which climbed 0.7%, although crude for September delivery ended the day at $78.98 a barrel – unchanged from Friday’s close.

Meanwhile, gold for August delivery slid $4.70 to $1,183.10 an ounce, as did the TSX Global Gold index, which declined 1.5%. Copper and silver, however, moved higher.

Gold stocks on the move included Kinross Gold (TSX: T-K), down 2.1%, Iamgold Corporation (TSX: T-IMG), which fell 2.45% and Goldcorp (TSX: T-G), which fell 1.5%.

In economic news, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that sales of new single-family houses in June 2010 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 330,000, 23.6% above the revised May rate of 267,000, but 16.7% below the June 2009 estimate of 396,000.

On the TSX, shares of Samuel Manu-Tech (TSX: T-SMT) jumped $3.17 to $7.41 after the steel and plastic products company announced a going-private transaction, in which its controlling shareholder, Samuel, Son & Co., would effectively acquire all of the outstanding common shares in the capital of SMT that it does not already own for $7.50 cash per common share, valuing SMT's minority held shares at approximately $68 million.