TORONTO – The Toronto stock market looked to head higher Monday as traders looked beyond the weekend vote that saw an overwhelming number of Crimeans opt to break from Ukraine and join Russia.

They are now looking to see how the U.S. and the European Union will follow through on imposing sanctions against Russia.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.3 of a cent to 90.53 cents US.

U.S. futures were also higher with the Dow Jones industrial futures up 85 points to 16,077, the Nasdaq futures advanced 20.5 points to 3,641.5 and the S&P 500 futures gained 9.75 points to 1,842.75.

The 28-nation EU is expected to have agreed on a full list of individuals to target for asset freezes and travel bans by late Monday.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague hinted more measures against Russia could be taken at a summit of EU leaders starting Thursday. The United States is also prepared to impose additional penalties on Russia.

Meanwhile, Imperial Oil (TSX:IMO) is selling its interest in assets located in Boundary Lake, Cynthia/West Pembina, and Rocky Mountain House in Western Canada to Whitecap Resources Inc. for approximately $855 million. These assets produced about 15,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day in 2013 on a net before royalty basis. Production is split evenly between oil and gas.

And the Wall Street Journal reported that gas giant Encana (TSX:ECA) is in advanced talks to sell its Wyoming natural-gas fields to private-equity firms Carlyle Group for about $2 billion. Encana has been looking to sell its holdings in the Jonah Field as it shifts its focus away from natural gas, which is in a price slump, to drilling for more valuable oil and natural-gas liquids.

In other buying activity, British telecommunications company Vodafone will buy Spanish telco Ono for 7.2 billion euros as it seeks to expand operations across Europe.

Toronto and New York markets gave up ground last week on uncertainty surrounding the Ukraine crisis and growing worries about Chinese economic growth.

Copper was on the rise Monday morning after a string of negative data from China sent prices sharply lower last week.

The May copper contract in New York rose two cents to US$2.97 a pound.

April crude dipped 15 cents to US$98.74 a barrel.

Gold prices edged lower after nervous investors seeking safety pushed prices ahead last week. The May contract in New York declined $3.60 to US$1,375.40 an ounce.

Traders also looked ahead to Wednesday afternoon when the U.S. Federal Reserve makes its next interest rate announcement, followed by a news conference with newly-minted Fed chair Janet Yellen.

Traders will be looking for any change in a gauge the Fed is using for interest rate guidance — the jobless rate. Generally, markets aren’t expecting a rate hike from the Fed until the middle of next year at the earliest.

Also, the Fed will likely send the message that the economy is strong enough to carry on with its program of cutting back on its bond purchases, the stimulus program that kept long term rates low and encouraged a strong rally on stock markets.

European markets also advanced as London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.39 per cent while Frankfurt’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were up 0.65 per cent.