Falling oil firms duel firmer defensives to keep Canada stocks steady

Canada's main stock index was flat on Monday, as losses in oil firms on weaker crude prices were countered by gains in technology shares and some defensive sectors.

At 09:35 a.m. ET (13:35 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 7.32 points, or 0.04%, at 20,250.63.

The energy sector dropped 1.7% as US crude prices were down 1.1% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 1.1%.

The financials sector slipped 0.1%. The industrials sector fell 0.1%.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.4% as gold futures were down 0.6% at $1,799.5 an ounce.

The tech sector rose 0.3%, while the communications and utilities sectors added 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively.

TSX gains on commodities boost, upbeat job data

Investors will be focusing on the Canadian central bank's policy meeting on Wednesday, when it is expected to taper its asset purchases again by C$1 billion to C$2 billion per week, according to a Reuters poll.

On the TSX, 66 issues were higher, while 150 issues declined for a 2.27-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 7.61 million shares traded.

The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Trisura Group Ltd, which jumped 3.8%, and Trillium Therape , which rose 1.1%.

Vermilion Energy fell 3.0%, the most on the TSX. The second-biggest decliner was Enerplus Corp, down 2.8%.

The most heavily traded shares by volume were Toronto-Dominion Bank, down 0.3%; Bombardier, up 1.5% and Harte Gold Corp, up 6.3%.

Energy, mining lift TSX as investors look past dismal economic data

The TSX posted no new 52-week highs and no new lows.

Across all Canadian issues there were 68 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows, with total volume of 15.80 million shares.