Canada's main stock index moved closer to the flat line on Wednesday, as oil prices hit 3-1/2-year highs after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of an international nuclear deal with Iran.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved negative 0.12 points to greet noon at 15,842.59
The Canadian dollar improved 0.61 cents to 77.81 cents U.S.
The energy sector, the biggest boost to the main index, was up, as Enbridge gained 2.5% after the pipeline operator said it will sell a 49% stake in some of its renewable power assets in order to reduce its massive debt, pushing the energy group higher.
Also helping the sentiment was progress made on the North American Free Trade Agreement front, as Mexico has launched a counterproposal to U.S. demands to toughen automotive industry content rules under the Agreement, officials said on Tuesday.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Maxar Technologies Ltd, which rose 15.3% after the company's quarterly results topped analysts' estimates.
Kinross Gold, the largest decliner, was down 8.6% after the company reported first-quarter results on Tuesday.
Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc were down 1.1% after the insurance company reported its quarterly results on Tuesday.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that the value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities increased 3.1% to $8.4 billion in March, following a 2.8% decline in February
The agency went on to attribute the hike to higher construction intentions for multi-family dwellings, particularly in Quebec and British Columbia, and by the commercial component.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.23 points to 769.59
All but four of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative by noon hour, as gold settled 1.2%, utilities retreated 1%, and consumer discretionary stocks skidded 0.8%.
The four gainers were led by energy, up 1.9%, health-care, up 0.3%, and materials, up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Wednesday as energy shares jumped on the back of a strong rally in oil prices. The index's move higher follows President Donald Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average heightened 99.04 points to 24,459.25, with Chevron and Exxon Mobil as the best-performing stocks in the index.
The S&P 500 gained 16.1 points to 2,688.02, with energy rising more than 2%. Marathon Oil was one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500, rising 4.6%
The NASDAQ picked up 37.02 points to 7,303.92
Chevron and Exxon Mobil both rose more than 1.5%.
In corporate news, WalMart dropped more than 4%. The retailer's stock fell after it agreed to buy 77% of Flipkart for $16 billion. Flipkart is am e-commerce company based in India.
Utilities, a sector adversely affected by higher rates, was one of the worst-performing spaces on Wednesday, sliding 0.6%
Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. would be walking away from the Iran deal and that sanctions on the Middle Eastern country would be reinstated. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, this was a campaign promise that Trump had pledged.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell back, raising yields to 3% from Tuesday’s 2.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices powered ahead $2.27 a barrel to $71.33 U.S.
Gold prices subtracted 40 cents to $1,313.30 U.S. an ounce.
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