Canadian shares were flat as loss among commodity producers overshadowed gains among financial shares in a quiet trade due to public holidays in the U.S. and much of Europe.
The benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) was steady at 15,195.59 at 11:50 a.m. in Toronto. Half of the ten share groups were in the positive territory.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, fell 0.5 percent as crude-oil futures dropped due the rising dollar.
Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, slipped 0.4 percent to C$36.96. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, fell 1.5 percent to C$61.10.
Cenovus Energy (TSE:CVE) fell 1.1 percent to C$21.10 after shutting down oil production at its Foster Creek oil sands project in northeastern Alberta “as a precautionary measure” because of an out-of-control forest fire in the area that could threaten the safety of the more than 1,700 workers on site.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $59.31 a barrel, down $0.67 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.20 to $65.17 a barrel.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, inched lower 0.1 percent as gold prices fell slightly today.
Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) edged up 0.2 percent to C$15.14 as the world's top gold producer agreed to sell its Cowal mine to Evolution Mining for $550 million. The Toronto-based gold miner said it will use the money from the sale to pay down debt.
Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,203.46 an ounce by 7:27 a.m., just above a near-two-week low of $1,201.20 hit in the previous session.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, was flat. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index,
Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), the company with the highest weighting in the index, slipped 0.3 percent to C$80.16. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, rose 0.4 percent to C$56.41.
Loblaw Cos. (TSE:L) rose 0.4 percent to C$63.97, reversing an earlier slump. Canada’s biggest grocery store chain said it and Strang’s Produce Inc. are voluntarily recalling certain brands of russet potatoes due to possible food tampering with nails and needles.
BlackBerry (TSE:BB) edged up 0.5 percent to C$12.95 as the Canadian smartphone maker is cutting an undisclosed number of jobs across the world to consolidates its software, hardware and applications business.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) gave up 0.4 percent to C$700.96 at 11:53 a.m. in Toronto.
In economic news, Canadian consumer confidence rose to its highest since December amid increased optimism over the outlook for the nation’s economy, weekly polling shows.
Canada's federal housing agency today gave a cooler outlook for housing starts this year and next, saying that lower oil prices are contributing to differences across the country's regional markets.
U.S. stock markets are closed for the Memorial Day holiday.