The Canadian dollar moved slightly higher Monday as commodity prices were mixed and some progress was made south of the board toward avoiding the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

The loonie edged up 0.06 of a cent to 101.45 cents (U.S.) before stock markets opened.

Budget negotiations inched forward over the weekend as House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner reportedly told President Barack Obama that he could be flexible on raising taxes on some wealthy earners in exchange for cuts to popular benefit programs cherished by Democrats.

Meanwhile, commodity prices were mostly weaker.

The January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 25 cents to $86.96 a barrel.

But March copper was down 2 cents at $3.66 a pound while February gold bullion dipped 50 cents to $1,696.50 an ounce.