Equities in Toronto made gains on Tuesday, helped by rising gold miners and other materials stocks as well as financials, while worries about oversupply of oil weighed on some energy names.
The S&P/TSX Composite remained above water 36.25 points to greet noon at 14,534.35
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.04 cents to 75.7 cents U.S.
The country's biggest banks were among the index's most influential gainers, with Royal Bank of Canada up 0.6% at $80.32 and Bank of Nova Scotia adding 0.5% to $66.11.
Element Financial Corp fell 4.8% to $13.95 after deciding to split into two companies.
Among gold and material plays, Barrick Gold rose 2.1% to $26.75 and Goldcorp advanced 1.3% to $24.12, while Potash Corp gained 1.2% to $22.60.
Gold rose as the U.S. dollar slipped ahead of a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting, which will be closely watched for clues on the outlook for U.S. interest rates.
WestJet Airlines Ltd rose 0.8% to $23.11 after reporting higher-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit on more passenger traffic and lower fuel costs.
Canadian National Railway advanced 0.5% to $84.41 after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter earnings after the bell on Monday.
The company said none of the older tank cars the federal government said it would take out of crude-by-rail service earlier than originally planned were currently carrying crude on CN Rail's network.
The most influential weights on the index included pipeline company Enbridge, which fell 0.4% to $51.92, while the overall energy group was able to notch a slight gain despite concerns that a long-awaited rebalancing of the market would be delayed due to excess supply.
Online bingo operator Intertain Group Ltd declined 7.7% to $10.39 after saying it plans to list on the London Stock Exchange as it pursues a U.K.-focused strategy.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gathered 1.39 points to 767.73
Seven of the 13 subgroups remained higher by midday, as metals and mining climbed 1.8%, gold was better 1.4%, and materials improved 1.3%.
The five laggards were weighed most by utilities, down 0.6%, consumer staples, off 0.5%, and health-care, sinking 0.4%.
Information technology shares were unchanged at noon hour.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mixed Tuesday amid a slew of Dow component earnings and further declines in oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled more than 100 points during the morning session, before climbing to within 42.32 points of breakeven to 18,450.74.
McDonald's temporarily fell 4.5% for the greatest negative impact on the index.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.33 points to 2,167.15, with information technology leading six sectors higher and health-care the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ advanced 5.22 points to 5,102.85.
Six components of the Dow reported quarterly earnings ahead of the open. Apple is scheduled to report after the close.
Elsewhere, 3M posted earnings that beat by one cent a share, on revenue a touch below estimates. The firm lowered its guidance for 2016 sales growth.
Caterpillar reported earnings that beat on both the top and bottom line.
DuPont posted earnings that beat on both the top and bottom line, and raised its full-year forecast.
McDonald's reported a lower-than-expected rise in U.S. same-store sales. Quarterly earnings, ex-items, did beat expectations.
United Technologies raised full-year guidance and posted quarterly earnings that beat on both the top and bottom line.
Verizon reported quarterly earnings that topped expectations on revenue that missed. The telecommunications giant said a seven-week workers' strike hurt results.
The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to conclude its two-day meeting Wednesday afternoon with its statement on monetary policy. Traders do not expect the Fed to raise interest rates, but will watch for indications on the timing of the next hike.
In economic news, the flash Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index edged down to 50.9 in July from 51.4 in June.
New U.S. single-family home sales rose 3.5% in June to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 592,000 units last month, topping expectations and the highest level since February 2008.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index was 97.3 in July, a touch below June's 97.4 print.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped a bit, raising yields to 1.58% from Monday’s 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 26 cents a barrel to $42.87 U.S.
Gold prices dropped a dollar to $1,318.50 U.S. an ounce.
