Canadian markets were lower Wednesday morning as oil prices continued to slip and interest rates moved higher, while U.S. markets digested the latest comments from Alan Greenspan.

At midday, the S&P.TSX was down 8.32 points or 0.1% to 8361.05, while the TSX Venture exchange was up 1.03 points or 0.07% to 1506.65.

In New York, the Dow Jones composite index was off slightly, down 8.92 points or 0.09% to 10333.87. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 1.37 points or 0.12% at 1119.93. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.63 points or 0.14% at 1861.19.

The Canadian dollar was off 0.23 of a cent to US77.46¢ after the Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate to 2.25% — the first hike in 17 months — and indicated more of the same is on the way.

On Wednesday, the price of crude oil futures for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange initially dropped 29¢ to US$43.02 a barrel. But prices began to climb later in the morning as Hurricane Ivan forced oil refinery closures in the Caribbean, threatening to restrict supplies to the United States. U.S. light crude rose 22¢ to US$43.53 a barrel, down around $6 from August’s record peak of US$49.40. London’s Brent crude rose 23¢ to US$40.99 a barrel.

In Toronto, energy issues led the way down, falling 0.61%. Shares of Petro-Canada fell 53¢ to $61.37, while Suncor Energy was off 33¢ to $36.97 and Canadian Natural Resources was down 69¢ to $42.41.

News that the Bank of Canada had, as expected, raised interest rates, held back financial stocks. They were down 0.11%, with shares of CIBC off 3¢ to $66.35 and National Bank down 4¢ to $42.46.

On the upside, gold stocks were ahead by 0.37% with Placer Dome up 16¢ to $22.53 and Barrick Gold ahead 9¢ to $25.29. Tech stocks were up as well, by 0.33%, led by Nortel Networks gaining 8¢ to $4.87. Before markets opened, reports emerged that Nortel had won a contract valued at 1 billion euros to provide 5,000 stations for Vodafone Espana.

In other corporate news, shares of Bank of Nova Scotia were down 15¢ to $36.05. The bank and Congress Financial of Canada say they have struck a strategic alliance to provide asset-based financing. Also, the China Banking Regulatory Commission has approved Scotiabank’s application to buy an unspecified stake in Xi’An City Commercial Bank.

Also, Wellington West Capital Inc. of Winnipeg is buying Toronto’s Harris Partners Ltd. Under the deal, Harris will become Wellington West’s institutional trading division, and will be known as Wellington West Capital Markets Inc. The transaction is expected to close in October, subject to regulatory approvals.

In New York, U.S. stocks were little changed after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan delivered positive comments on the economy and corporate earnings news was mixed. Greenspan told Congress the evidence indicates that the U.S. economy had climbed out of its recent soft patch and was picking up steam.

Meanwhile, shares of Coca-Cola Co. fell after Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., the world’s largest bottler of Coke drinks, lowered its earnings forecast for the year.

Elsewhere, shares of McKesson fell $4.78 to $27.05 after the drug wholesaler said earnings will miss analysts’ estimates, blaming pricing problems. Avon Products, the world’s largest direct seller of cosmetics, fell $2.52 to $43.14, after it said third-quarter profit from its U.S. business could fall as much as 10%. Shares of McDonald’s climbed 52¢ to $27.90 after it said worldwide sales at its namesake restaurants open more than a year rose 3.9% in August. Shares in Motorola fell 64¢ to $15.04 after Merrill Lynch downgraded its rating of the firm, citing increasing weakness in the wireless handset market.

Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei average dipped 19.75 points to 11,279.19.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 86.08 points to 13,049.96.

London’s FTSE 100 index slipped 4.1 points at 4,569.7.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 and the Paris CAC 40 were flat.