Bay Street remained modestly higher on Wednesday after erasing an early decline.
S&P/TSX Composite Index squeezed out a gain of 11.99 points to finish the day at 10,685.83.
It was a volatile day, as the index tanked around 150 points within minutes of the opening bell, then sprang up as high as 70 points during mid-afternoon.
Financials were up, as Toronto Dominion has added 1.25% to $63.28 and Royal Bank came out ahead 0.4% to $50.31.
Among energy stocks, Canadian Oil Sands added 1.2% to $27.71 and Encana was up 0.3% to $56.65.
Mining stocks have lost ground, as Inmet declined 2.9% to $44.64 and Teck Resources lost 2.7% to $27.48.
On the corporate front, Sears Canada declined 1.8% to $20.63 after the company announced that its second-quarter net earnings were $49.1 million or $0.45 per share, compared to $61.5 million or $0.57 per share in the second quarter last year.
Twin Butte Energy added 1.1% to 90 cents after the company and Buffalo Resources Corp. announced that they have entered into a merger arrangement worth $119 million.
Brookfield Asset Management revealed a $1-billion fund to provide financing for companies in need of restructuring, according to Bloomberg. Shares were down 0.5% to $22.15.
Orbit Garant Drilling was unchanged at $1.70 after the company signed a contract with Xstrata Canada Corp., Xstrata Zinc Canada Division, to provide surface drilling services at Xstrata's Bracemac-McLeod project in Matagami, Quebec.
Western Canadian Coal said it has completed the bought deal financing previously announced on July 24 and has issued 22.1 million common shares at $2.70 per share for gross proceeds of $59.7 million. The stock lost 2.1% to $2.83.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported the annual Canadian consumer price index fell 0.9% in July, compared to a 0.8% drop a year ago. CPI fell 0.3% in July, compared to a 0.2% drop in June. CPI is expected to rise 0.3% year-over year, compared to a 0.8% drop last year and rise 0.3% month-on-month, compared to a 0.2% decline in June.
Annual core CPI rose 1.8% in July, compared to a 1.9% rise a year ago. On a monthly basis, core CPI rose 0.1% in July, after coming in unchanged in June.
Meanwhile, Canada's leading index rose 0.4% in the month of July.
The Canadian dollar picked up 0.51 cents, to 91.26 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, 10 finished the day negative. Metals and mining weighed most heavily on the losers, dropping 2% of their strength, while information technology stocks were off 1.6% and consumer discretionaries lost 1.4%.
Utilities led the four gainers, up 0.8%, consumer staples were ahead 0.5% and financials picked up 0.3%.
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 10.45 points, to 1,176.95, while the Nasdaq Canada Index gave back 3.40 points to 727.04
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks gained Wednesday, fighting back from early losses, as investors scooped up oil and other commodity shares following a nearly 5% rally in crude prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials progressed a healthy 61.22 points to 9,279.16. The S&P 500 index was 6.79 points higher to 996.46. The Nasdaq composite index reversed course and gained 13.32 points to 1,969.24, after spending much of the day in the red.
Stocks slumped in the early going, but managed to trim declines as the morning wore on, eventually staging a rally. A spike in oil prices and the underlying stocks helped drive the advance, after the Energy Information Administration reported a surprise drop in crude inventories.
Wall Street rallied Tuesday after Home Depot's profit report and forecast reassured investors worried about struggling consumers. But the volume was light, even for late summer, which traders say suggests little conviction on the part of buyers. Light volume also makes stocks more volatile.
The nearly five-month advance has hit some turbulence over the last week as investors have weighed expectations for a recovery with indications that any recovery will be tepid. While recent reports show manufacturing and housing are starting to stabilize, consumer spending remains sluggish and unemployment continues to rise.
A rally in crude prices gave a boost to oil stocks, including Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
After the close Tuesday, Hewlett-Packard reported lower quarterly sales and earnings that topped analysts estimates. Mark Hurd, the company's CEO, said business is stabilizing, but it is too soon to say the economy has turned a corner.
The tech leader also boosted its current-quarter earnings forecast and reiterated its full-year revenue forecast. Shares drifted lower Wednesday.
Among other movers, shares of Dow component Alcoa declined on a Goldman Sachs downgrade, according to published report. The brokerage cut its rating on the aluminum stock because it has surged sharply in recent weeks and industry conditions could deteriorate.
Treasury prices were up on the day, pushing the yields on the 10-year note down to 3.46%, from Tuesday’s 3.52%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
As indicated, the price of a barrel of oil surged $3.23 to $72.17 U.S.
Gold prices picked up $6 to $945 U.S. an ounce.
