TORONTO: Canada's main stock index hovered around unchanged in morning trade on Wednesday, pressured by slumps in media company Corus Entertainment Inc and miner Klondex Mines Ltd but buoyed by gains among other miners, financial stocks and some energy companies.
Corus fell 9.4 percent to C$10 after missing quarterly profit and revenue expectations due to a weak television advertising market.
Klondex lost 10.5 percent to C$2.65 after announcing it would pull back on operations at its True North project in Manitoba.
At 10:22 a.m. EST (1522 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 18.4 points, or 0.11 percent, to 16,337.64. Earlier, it had been slightly lower.
The energy group climbed 0.7 percent, with Crescent Point Energy Corp rising 4.1 percent to C$10.90 as analysts at two banks increased their price targets on the stock following the release of the company's 2018 budget.
Oil prices hit fresh multi-year highs as OPEC-led production cuts and healthy demand helped to balance the market, but analysts warned of possible overheating.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.7 percent. Those gains were led by gold miners boosting by higher bullion prices.
Gold futures rose 0.7 percent to $1,320.7 an ounce, as a report that Chinese officials had recommended slowing or halting US Treasury purchases sparked a broad-based sell-off of the dollar, lifting assets priced in the US currency.
The financials group gained 0.2 percent, with Manulife Financial Corp up 0.9 percent at C$26.89.
The energy, materials and financials groups combine to account for roughly two-thirds of the index's weight.
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