The Canadian stock ended little changed on Monday as a lack of clear resolution to Europe's debt crisis weighed on commodity prices, offsetting the positive effect of optimism for upcoming U.S. economic news.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 8.08 points, or 0.07 percent, at 12,196.72 while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index gained 1.75 points, or 0.11 percent, at 1,527.48. The TSX had a solid start in the first week of 2012, gaining almost 2 percent thanks to a slew of positive U.S. economic news.

On Friday, a U.S. data showed a better than expected rise in private sector hiring in December and a drop in the unemployment rate to its lowest level in almost three years. On Monday, the optimism continued as U.S. auto sales are expected to rise up to 9 percent, analysts and executives said at the Detroit auto show.

Over the last few months, the relative health of the U.S. economy has helped distract investors from the grim European outlook. Investors will be looking for further positive news as U. S. earnings season kicks off on Monday. Canadian companies will start to report earnings next week.

At the same time, European worries continued to weigh on market sentiment. Weaker German industrial output in November made traders nervous about a slowdown in Europe's powerhouse economy. Other data added to the eurozone gloom including November retail sales which were down 0.8 percent and unemployment rising for a seventh consecutive month.

Investors drew little inspiration from a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who have not yet been able to get their eurozone counterparts to agree on a new fiscal plan due to be signed on March 1.

On Monday, Merkel and Sarkozy said progress has been made on a proposed intergovernmental pact to increase fiscal discipline across the eurozone. The leaders added that the pact could be signed ahead of the Jan. 30 EU summit and go into effect as early as March.

Half of the Canadian stock market's 10 main sectors were lower, led down by energy and mining groups.

The February crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 18 cents to 101.38 U.S. dollars a barrel. The Toronto Stock Exchange energy sector stayed almost unchanged after a big jump last week.

The base metals and mining sector was the market's main drag on Monday with a drop of 1.19 percent as copper prices slipped to 3. 41 U.S. dollars a pound. Teck Resources lost 70 cents to 37.65 Canadian dollars per share.

Financials stocks were again weighed by the negative European headwinds, with Bank of Nova Scotia sliding 0.5 percent to 51.18 Canadian dollars. A new report from the Bank of Canada said businesses pessimism is on the rise with confidence notably lower than the high level reached after Canada emerged from recession in 2009.

More businessmen responding to the Bank of Canada survey said they are discouraged about future sales prospects, with more companies expecting slower sales this year. That's the first decline in nearly three years, the bank said.

Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported Monday morning that building permits skidded 3.6 percent in November, after a jump of 11.6 percent in October. A decline in the non- residential sector, particularly in Ontario, offset gains in the value of residential permits.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar was down 0.49 of a cent to 97.69 U.S. cents. One U.S. dollar was buying 1.0233 Canadian dollars at 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT) on Monday, compared with 1.0282 Canadian dollars last Friday.