Stocks in Toronto barely held onto gains by the close Tuesday, as gold moved lower ahead of jobs numbers due out south of the border at the end of this week.
The S&P/TSX Composite was 2.88 points north of breakeven to close Tuesday at 14,684.85
The Canadian dollar faded 0.49 cents at 76.36 cents U.S.
Gold stocks took the brunt of selling activity, as Yamana Gold skidded 40 cents, or 6.9%, to $5.40, while Kinross Gold dropped 35 cents, or 6.2%, to $5.33.
Materials were also in the red, with Teck Resources down 54 cents, or 2.4%, to $21.87.
Industrials, however, performed well, as Bombardier gained two cents, or 1%, to $2.09, while Canadian Pacific chugged along $1.57 to $203.00
Financials were in the green, as Manulife gained 41 cents, or 2.3%, to $18.31, while Bank of Nova Scotia galloped $1.07, or 1.6%, to $69.93.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that its industrial product price index rose 0.2% in July. Higher prices for primary non-ferrous metal products were largely moderated by a decline in prices for energy and petroleum products.
The Raw Materials Price Index decreased 2.7%, as a result of lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 15.58 points to 790.35
Seven of the 12 subgroups were lower on the day, with gold tumbling 4.8%, materials down 2%, and real-estate slipping 1.1%.
The five gainers were led by industrials, up 1%, financials, richer by 0.7%, and information technology, up 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday, with utilities falling 1%, as investors analyzed strong consumer data while keeping an eye on Federal Reserve ahead of Friday's jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials stayed negative 48.69 points to 18,454.30, with Boeing leading decliners and Goldman Sachs the top advancer.
The S&P 500 gave back 4.26 points to 2,176.12, with utilities leading nine sectors lower and financials the only advancer. The financials sector has risen more than 3% in August, leading all 10 sectors.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 9.34 points to 5,222.99
Apple was on Wall Street's radar, as the Dow component fell 0.8% after the European Commission ordered Ireland to recover more than $14.5 billion U.S. in back taxes from the tech giant.
The consumer confidence index for August rose to 101.1, with economists seeing the number come in at 97.
Other data released Tuesday included the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite index, which rose 5.1% year over year, versus expectations of 5.2%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were unchanged, keeping yields at Monday’s 1.57%.
Oil prices settled 56 cents at $46.42 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices subtracted $13.20 at $1,313.90 U.S. an ounce.
