Equities in Toronto were little changed in morning trade on Friday, pausing after a sharp rise this week, as gains for energy stocks were somewhat offset by losses among miners.
The S&P/TSX Composite remained afloat 7.93 points to greet noon at 14,834.02
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.15 cents at 74.04 cents U.S.
The most influential gainers included Suncor Energy, which rose 0.9% to $41.57 and Canadian Natural Resources, up 0.7% at $42.65. Encana Corp advanced 2.3% to $15.67.
The Canadian energy industry is expected to benefit broadly from the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, who has said he would approve the Keystone XL pipeline that would give Canadian crude better access to U.S. markets.
Diversified miner Teck Resources was among the heaviest weights, down 2% to $30.83, while Kinross Gold fell 2.5% to $4.67.
Copper was headed for its sharpest weekly fall in a month, after surging more than 11% last week in its biggest such gain since October 2011 on bets Trump's plan to hike U.S. infrastructure spending and cut taxes would boost the world's top economy.
Gold meanwhile hit its lowest since late May as the U.S. dollar surged to a near 14-year peak.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International rose 2% to $24.78. The stock had fallen sharply on Thursday before recovering after a former executive was arrested.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index rose 1.5% on a year-over-year basis in October, following a 1.3% gain in September. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.2% in October, matching the gain in September.
Moreover, a source close to the talks has said the leaders of Mexico and Canada will hold talks this weekend on the potential impact a Trump presidency could have on the NAFTA trade pact.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stayed up 1.9 points to 744.34
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were still in the red by noon hour, with materials trudging 1.5% lower, gold fading 1.4%, and information technology off 0.7%.
The four gainers were led by energy, gushing 1.5%, real-estate, stronger by 0.5%, and financials, prospering 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities dropped on Friday, led by health-care concerns, as investors digested Federal Reserve officials' remarks on monetary policy and falling oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials tucked lower 39.72 points to break for lunch at 18,864.10, with American Express leading decliners and Chevron the biggest riser.
The S&P 500 fell 5.72 points at 2,181.48, with health-care leading nine sectors lower and energy the only advancer.
The NASDAQ composite index slumped 14.26 points to 5,319.72, after briefly touching an intraday high.
Several Fed officials spoke on Friday, including Kansas City Fed President Esther George. In a speech, she said the U.S. economy would benefit from the Federal Reserve raising rates sooner rather than later.
Earlier, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he is leaning towards supporting a rate hike next month and argued on Friday that the real question now is the Fed's rate path in 2017.
Market expectations for a rate hike in December were above 90% Friday morning.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note were slightly lower, raising yields to 2.32% from Thursday’s 2.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices lowered 30 cents to $45.12 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices fell nine dollars to $1,207.90 U.S. an ounce.
