TSX manages gain, first for The week

Canada’s benchmark stock index eked out a small gain on Wednesday, its first of the week, after a morning in negative territory led to an afternoon of choppy trading.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 12,436.49, up 5.79 points, or 0.05%. Seven of the 10 sub-indexes advanced, led by consumer services, up 1.26%, and industrials, which rose 1.16%, boosted by a deal between Bombardier and Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China that is expected to grow the Canadian company’s sales and cut its costs. Bombardier shares rose 3.21% to $4.18. Canadian railways also had a good day — Canadian National Railway shares rose 1.82% to $78.88, and Canadian Pacific shares gained 2.09% to $78.53.

Energy issues had weighed on the S&P/TSX earlier in the day, falling despite the rising price of oil — up US$1.66 to US$107.27 a barrel in New York trading on Wednesday. Gold gained US$3.30 to US$1,650.30 an ounce.

“For the past couple of weeks this market has been predominantly driven off the commodity space, but you’re not seeing a lot of movement on it today,” Gareth Watson, vice-president of i nvestment management and research at Richardson GMP Ltd. in Toronto, told Bloomberg. “It’s a reflection of the fact that there really hasn’t been a great deal of news or development overnight from an economic standpoint.”

The Canadian dollar slipped five basis points to US$1.0078.

Canada’s junior Venture exchange also made a small gain on Wednesday, up 6.86 points, or 0.44%, to 1,577.56.

Markets in the U.S. were mixed on Wednesday. Data showing existing home sales for February fell, where analysts had been expecting an increase, weighed on the Dow. There was also the sense, however, that markets are overvalued as a result of their steady rise since December, and that it was time to take a break.

“People won’t play real hard at these levels,” Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James & Associates in St. Petersburg, Fla., told Bloomberg. “I don’t think you should get bearish. Yet the market’s energy seems to be used up after the strong rally.”

Also on Wednesday, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke raised concerns about inflationary pressures building due to higher gasoline prices in response to questions from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 45.57 points, or 0.35%, to 13,124.62, and the Nasdaq composite was just above flat with a gain of 1.17 points, or 0.04%, to 3,075.32.