The Toronto stock market was flat in afternoon trading on disappointing economic data from Canada and the United States discouraged buyers on the last day of third-quarter trading.
Within minutes of the closing bell, the S&P TSX Composite index was behind 10.01 points to 11,384.98.
The TSX energy sector bounced off session lows and was ahead slightly as oil prices gained ground after the latest U.S. inventory figures showed rising oil supplies and increased gasoline demand.
Suncor Energy says its oil sands facilities continue to operate safely after more than two dozen Greenpeace activists said they have shut down the energy company's upgrader in northern Alberta.
Its shares were down 27 cents to $36.93.
Mining stocks were mixed.
The base metals sector added strength while December copper rose nine cents to $2.819 U.S. a pound. HudBay Minerals advanced 35 cents to $12.90.
The industrials sector was down with Canadian National Railways down 85 cents to $52.31.
In corporate news, TransCanada Corp. says it will invest $1.2 billion to build a natural-gas power plant in Oakville, Ont. The Calgary-based company says it was the winning bidder on a 20-year contract to build, own and operate the plant. Its shares slipped 10 cents to $33.10.
In economic news, Canadian real gross domestic product was unchanged in July, following a 0.1% increase in June, according to data released Wednesday morning by Stats Canada.
With interest rates lowered to 0.25%, GDP was expected to rise 0.4% for July.
The strength of the manufacturing and wholesale trade sectors was attributable to a rebound in motor vehicle and parts production. There was also an increase in the accommodation and food service sector.
These gains were offset by declines in the mining sector, which were due in part to temporary closures, and in utilities. Construction, retail trade and municipal public administration were also down.
Elsewhere, the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) rose 0.5% and the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) was up 3.7% compared with July. Both induces came roughly in line with expectations.
Also, Canadian non-farm payroll employment rose by 74,300 in July, up 0.5% from June, the agency said.
The August increase in the IPPI followed a 0.6% decline in July.
The Canadian dollar rallied 1.40 cents to 93.52 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, nine were lower. Global base metals weighed down the market by losing 1.1%, while consumer staples were down 1% and industrials were sliding 0.9%.
Real-estate stocks led the five gaining groups by picking up 1.4% on the day, while metals and mining stocks were up 1.1% and health-care issues were 1% to the good.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.69 points to 1,276, while the Nasdaq Canada index were 1.86 points in the black to 709.84.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks faltered Wednesday afternoon, as investors considered a weak dollar, a rally in oil prices and weaker-than-expected manufacturing and labour market reports.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost 16.24 points on the day to 9,725.96. The S&P 500 index slid 2.19 points, to 1,058.42. The Nasdaq composite index subsided 0.67 points to 2,123.37.
Stocks posted big losses early in the day, after the Chicago PMI, a manufacturing index, and the ADP employment report both showed worse-than-expected results. Then stocks erased losses and turned higher in the afternoon before slipping again near the close.
End-of-quarter portfolio rebalancing on the part of investors and fund managers may have contributed to the volatility.
Wednesday was the last day of the month and the third quarter. As of Tuesday's close, the S&P 500 was up nearly 4% on the month and 15% on the quarter.
Since bottoming at a 12-year low March 9, the S&P 500 has gained just shy of 57% and the Dow has gained around 49%, as of Tuesday's close. After hitting a six-year low, the Nasdaq has gained nearly 68%.
CIT Group sank 41% on worries that it may not be able to avoid bankruptcy after all.
The lender's shares rallied Tuesday on reports that it was negotiating a new credit facility that could total $10 billion U.S.
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal said that CIT was negotiating a deal with its creditors that would give control of the company to bondholders and wipe out common shareholders. That sent shares tumbling.
Among other movers, shares of Discovery Laboratories surged 29% on renewed hopes that its treatment for certain respiratory illnesses affecting premature infants might get approval.
The drug, Surfaxin, has already been rejected four times by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But on Wednesday, Discovery said that the FDA has agreed to its proposed plan for addressing those concerns.
JPMorgan Chase, Chevron and Exxon Mobil were among the Dow's losers. Chevron and Exxon dipped despite a rise in oil prices.
On the economic front, the broadest measure of the nation's economy declined in the April-June period, but not by as much as previously reported. The government said gross domestic product shrank at a 0.7% annual rate, down from the 1% rate reported last month and below the 1.2% consensus forecast of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
ADP's report on private sector payrolls showed that 254,000 private sector jobs were lost in September. The report was expected to show that employers in the private sector cut 200,000 jobs from their payrolls. But the number was down from a revised 277,000 in August.
The ADP report comes ahead of Thursday's Challenger report on job cuts and Friday's much-anticipated government report on September payrolls.
Elsewhere, the Chicago PMI, a regional reading on manufacturing, fell to 46.1 in September from 50 in August. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would rise to 52.
On Wednesday afternoon, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn is expected to talk about the central bank's exit strategies as the Fed unwinds some of the trillions it injected to spark a recovery. He will appear on a panel at the Cato Institute in Washington.
Treasury prices were marginally lower, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.30% from Tuesday’s 3.29%
The price of a barrel of oil surged $3.90 to $70.35 U.S.
Gold prices jumped $15 to $1,009 U.S. an ounce.
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