Greek leftist leader Alexis Tsipras was sworn in on Monday as the prime minister of a new anti-bailout government and promised the austerity imposed by international creditors for the past five years was over.

The benchmark TSX’s modest advance came after a week in which it recorded its biggest gain in six weeks. The recovery has helped reverse recent weakness due to a drop in oil prices, triggered by concerns about increasing supply and sluggish demand.

The imbalance in the supply-demand equation for oil could become more favorable over time, said Craig Bethune, portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management's global natural resources equity team.

“When you start to see the rate of change in supply and you see more of the rigs being laid down, the market will get a little more positive on the (energy) stocks,” he said.

“There are some good opportunities today,” he added. “You just have to be willing to look forward … It may go up or down a few percentage points before things settle.”

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> closed up 18.48 points, or 0.13 percent, at 14,797.83. Seven of the 10 main sectors on the index were higher.

The gold-mining sector jumped 1.8 percent, shrugging off a decline in the bullion price. Barrick Gold Corp (>> Barrick Gold Corp.) added 2.5 percent to C$15.82, and Yamana Gold Inc (>> Yamana Gold Inc.) gained 3.1 percent to C$5.26.

The energy sector advanced, helped by gains in pipeline companies. Enbridge Inc (>> Enbridge Inc) rose 1.2 percent to C$62.41.

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, gave back 0.3 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (>> Bank of Nova Scotia) lost 0.5 percent to $63.49, and Bank of Montreal (>> Bank of Montreal) was down 0.4 percent at C$78.14.

(Editing by Peter Galloway and Chris Reese)

By John Tilak