TORONTO – The Canadian dollar was higher Monday amid general U.S. dollar weakness and higher commodity prices.

The loonie rose 0.26 of a cent to 96.7 cents US.

A lower dollar helped support commodity prices because a weaker greenback makes it less expensive for holders of other currencies to buy oil and metals which are dollar-denominated.

The September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was ahead 27 cents to US$108.14 a barrel.

But prices have jumped about 12 per cent this month, underpinned by three weeks of declining U.S. stockpiles.

September copper was up three cents to US$3.17 a pound. August bullion ran up $22.90 to US$1,315.80 an ounce.

It is a relatively quiet week for economic news.

The major Canadian data point for the week is May retail sales, which comes out Tuesday morning. The consensus calls for a 0.3 per cent rise following a 0.1 per cent rise in April.

In other market-related developments, Japanese election results gave the country’s ruling coalition a majority in parliament’s upper house and a mandate to push ahead economic reforms.

Preliminary results from Sunday’s election show the coalition led by Shinzo Abe won a majority in the upper house. Analysts said the victory removes a roadblock to implementing its economic reform agenda.

Portuguese financial markets were relieved by the decision to allow the fragile coalition government to remain in charge, eliminating for now the prospect of snap elections and more political uncertainty.

Lisbon’s PSI 20 stock index was up 1.7 per cent in afternoon trading while the interest rate on the benchmark 10-year bond — what the government would pay to borrow money from the open market — to fall 0.50 percentage points to 6.23 per cent.

A survey by the National Association for Business Economics says U.S. companies are increasingly confident the economy will grow at a modest pace over the next year and are hiring more.

Nearly one-third of the economists surveyed said their companies added jobs in the April-June quarter. That’s the highest percentage in nearly two years. And 39 per cent expect their firms will hire more in the next six months.