The Toronto stock market was relatively flat Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted that it still won't likely move on interest rates any time soon.
The S&P/TSX composite index fought its way into the green by 7.18 points to close Wednesday at 14,980.15
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.41 cents to 88.11 cents U.S.
The base metals group of stocks was down while the December copper contract closed four cents higher to $3.05 U.S. Teck Resources fell 51 cents, or 2.7%, to end the day at $17.96.
The gold sector gave back about half of Tuesday’s jump Tuesday as Barrick Gold trailed Tuesday’s close by 89 cents or 5.9% to $14.15.
The consumer staples group led advancers, as grocer Metro Inc. had a $115.6-million profit in the fourth quarter of its 2014 financial year, or $1.32 per share, which was above analyst estimates of $1.29 share.
Its revenue in the fourth quarter was up 3.9% from a year earlier, rising to $2.7 billion, while Metro's same-store sales were up 3.1%. Its shares gained $7.18 to $89.68.
Shares in pipeline company TransCanada climbed $1.50 to $57.50 after CEO Russ Girling said he expects the company's dividend to grow at an average annual rate of at least 8% through 2017.
He added that "success in advancing our major projects" could push annual dividend growth rate to 10% or higher.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange removed 2.18 points to 782.21.
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers, with consumer staples jumping 2.4%, utilities up 0.6%, and industrials moving 0.5% to the good.
The seven laggards were weighed most by gold, down 5.2%, materials, sliding 2.3%, and global base metals, off 1.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were little changed on Wednesday, with benchmarks at or near all-time highs, as Wall Street took in stride minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting, which had some central bankers concerned prices are not increasing rapidly enough.
The Dow Jones Industrials slid 2.09 points to close at 17,685.73
The S&P 500 slipped 3.08 points at 2,048.72. The NASDAQ index dipped 27.63 points to 4,678.80.
The minutes from the central bank come from its October session, at which the Fed finished its bond-buying program, while sticking with its pledge to keep interest rates low for a considerable period.
The minutes had Fed members continuing to "expect inflation to move back to the committee's 2% target over the medium term as resource slack diminished in an environment of well-anchored inflation expectations."
The U.S. Commerce Department reported housing starts unexpectedly fell in October, down 2.8%, while permits surged to their highest in more than six years.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were lower, raising yields to 2.35% from Tuesday’s 2.32%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost 18 cents to $74.43 U.S.
Gold prices moved lower $13.40 to $1,181.70 U.S.
