Canadian shares were flat at midday, after erasing earlier gains in morning trades as global markets continue to be gripped by intense volatility.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) inched down 0.1% to 13,134.74 at 12:07 p.m. in Toronto. Six out of ten share groups were in the negative territory.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, slumped 1.7% as precious metals tumbled on the strength of the dollar. Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, tanked 3.5% to C$17.80. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), Canada’s second-largest gold miner, retreated 5.2% to C$8.89.
U.S. gold for December delivery dropped 1.6 percent to $1,120 an ounce.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, rose 0.9% even as oil prices fell on less demand for gasoline.
Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, added 0.3% to C$33.72. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, was flat at C$50.58.
Sunshine Oilsands (TSE:SUO), which is developing an oil-sands project in Alberta, declined 5.6% to $0.085 after saying a private placement of HK$155 million ($2mln) to Grand East Wealth Investment and City Legend Group has been “mutually terminated” due to poor market conditions.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery recently fell 0.9% to $38.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, edged up 0.1%. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, slumped 1.9% to C$70.96, reversing an earlier gain. The largest Canadian lender by assets grew earnings on the back of a record-breaking performance from personal and commercial banking.
National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) added 2% to $42.39 after saying its adjusted profit in the third quarter was C$1.25 a share, ahead of analyst expectations for earnings of C$1.19 a share.
WSP Global (TSE:WSP) sank 4.5% to $41.61 after saying it agreed to acquire MMM Group Ltd., a private Canadian engineering consulting firm, for C$425 million.
In economic news, a Reuters poll has found that Canadian home prices are set to rise a little over 5 percent this year and 2 percent in 2016 despite a slowdown in activity as the economy weakens.
In the U.S., stocks jumped, trying for a second day to bounce from a recent plunge, as investors eyed a solid durable-goods report and stimulus in China.