The Toronto stock market was slightly ahead amid another round of nervousness about Europe’s debt crisis.

The S&P/TSX composite index was 7.72 points higher to 12,097.61 while the Canadian dollar was down 0.04 of a cent to 101.06 cents (U.S.).

New York’s Dow Jones industrials declined 19.74 points to 13,255.46. The Nasdaq composite index was down 3.89 points at 3,072.7 and the S&P 500 index slipped 1.7 points to 1,416.46.

Oil rose 13 cents to $96.14 (U.S.) a barrel.

Markets have rallied this month, partly because of a commitment by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi that the ECB would do whatever it takes to keep the eurozone monetary union intact.

That has been taken to mean that the ECB could ramp up its purchases of government bonds to lower the high borrowing costs that are threatening to ruin the finances of Spain and Italy. But Germany’s central bank is again stressing its skepticism toward those proposed purchases.