Canada's main stock index was little changed on Wednesday as a drop in the price of oil pulled down energy shares, offsetting small gains in financial stocks and gold miners ahead of the Christmas break.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 13.28 points to close the last session before Christmas at 14,607.31
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.04 cents to 86.05 cents U.S.
Sessions on both sides of the border closed at 1 p.m. ET, and remain shuttered Christmas Day, with the Toronto market remaining shut for Boxing Day.
The energy sector fell as Suncor Energy declined 40 cents, or 1.1% to $37.40 and Canadian Natural Resources dropped 16 cents, or 0.5% to $31.41.
Gold miners outperformed the broader materials sector, which itself was slightly positive, rising even as gold prices slumped to near three-week lows. Heavyweight Goldcorp was up 65 cents, or 3.3% at $20.63.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 3.13 points to 674.32
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups ended the day higher, with gold soaring 3.6%, materials surging 1.8%, and the metals and mining group up 0.9%.
The three laggards were energy, off 0.7%, information technology down 0.4%, and consumer staples trailing Tuesday’s close by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks ended near unchanged on Wednesday, with the Dow furthering its record climb, a day after its first trip above 18,000.
The Dow Jones Industrials added 58.47 points to 18,082.64, with Boeing leading blue-chip gains that included 22 of 30 components.
The S&P 500 ditched 0.29 points to 2,081.84, with utilities leading sector gains and energy losses among its 10 major industry groups.
The NASDAQ index regained 8.05 points to 4,773.47.
Achillion Pharmaceuticals rose after Tuesday's 24% drop as biotechnology shares were hit by worries insurers and drug-benefit managers might try to restrict drug costs.
Cal-Maine Foods fell after the egg producer reported quarterly earnings short of estimates.
Wednesday's data showed fewer Americans than forecast filed for unemployment benefits last week, with the U.S. Labor Department reporting jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 280,000 last week. The four-week moving average dropped to 290,250 last week from 298,750.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields Tuesday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.70 per barrel to $55.42 U.S.
Gold prices toppled four dollars an ounce at $1,174.00 U.S.
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