Equities were marginally lower on Tuesday as financial and railway stocks weighed, while shares in energy companies and gold miners rose on higher commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite climbed to within 4.38 points of breakeven by noon Tuesday to 15,474.91
The Canadian dollar spiked 0.69 cents at 76.65 cents U.S.
The most influential weights included some of the index's biggest banks, with Royal Bank of Canada down 0.7% to $93.66 and Toronto-Dominion Bank off 0.6% to $66.575.
Home Capital Group Inc, whose Home Trust unit is more exposed to housing than the banks, fell 1.6% to $30.01, while the financials group slipped.
The energy group climbed on the back of the oil price gain, with Suncor Energy up 1% to $43.23 and Canadian Natural Resources advancing 1.1% to $41.64.
Goldcorp Inc rose 1.2% to $19.37 and Kinross Gold gained 3.1% to $4.61 as gold jumped to its highest in nearly eight weeks on Trump's comments.
Canadian National Railway fell 1.2% to $92.24, while rival Canadian Pacific Railway declined 1.3% to $192.19, pushing industrials down
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 1.18 points to 796.72
Eight of the 12 subgroups were higher, as gold jumped 1.1%, health-care perked 1%, and energy sparked 0.8%.
The four laggards were weighed most by industrials, stumbling 0.8%, financials, scaling back 0.5%, and information technology, dipping 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell on Tuesday, with financials lagging, as uncertainty around President-elect Donald Trump's policies grew.
The Dow Jones Industrials faded 44.07 points to greet noon at 19,841.66, with JPMorgan Chase leading decliners and Wal-Mart the top advancer.
The S&P 500 subtracted 5.26 points to 2,269.38, with financials leading five sectors lower and consumer staples outperforming.
The NASDAQ composite index decreased 23.96 points to 5,544.76
There are no major U.S. economic data due Tuesday, but a slew of firms reported quarterly results, including Morgan Stanley, which beat analyst expectations on both the top and bottom line. Morgan Stanley shares fell 2.5%, however.
Equity markets in the United States were shuttered Monday for Martin Luther King Day.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump criticized a proposed corporate tax plan from the House of Representatives, labeling the plan "too complicated.”
The stock market stateside has soared since the election partially on hopes of corporate tax reform, deregulation of certain sectors and more government spending. Trump's inauguration is scheduled for Friday.
Adding pressure to U.S. stocks were concerns of a hard Brexit. In a speech Tuesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May indicated the United Kingdom would seek a clean break from the European Union. She added, however, The U.K. government will put the Brexit deal it agrees with the European Union to a parliamentary vote.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note strengthened, lowering yields to 2.35% from Friday’s 2.4%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 24 cents to $52.61 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices hiked $16.40 to $1,212.60 U.S. an ounce.
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