Canadian investors seemed a bit lost today without their American colleagues. The U.S. markets and government offices were closed today, as investors and traders south of the 49th parallel celebrated Memorial Day.

In Toronto, stocks were almost flat. The TSE 300 composite index fell a mere 1.70 points to 8,291.14. Declining issues barely exceeded advancers 494 to 485. Trading volume was low, just 64.4 million shares.

Overall eight of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices rose, but the lack of trading volume gave little meaning to the positive movement.

Investors are awaiting the a latest decision on interests rates from the Bank of Canada. Our nation’s central banker is to announce a rate cut tomorrow. The general consensus among analysts is for a cut of 25 basis points. Since this cut has been factored into expectations, the bank’s move isn’t anticipated to cause much movement in the equity markets.

In fact, most traders are waiting for the latest employment numbers from the U.S. They’re due on Friday from the U.S. Commerce Department.

Among advancing groups on the TSE, the pipelines sub-index posted the biggest gain. It rose 0.68%. Among the decliners, the base-metal sub-index fell 0.38%.

Nortel Networks slipped 9¢ to $22.59. Fiber-optics equipment company JDS Uniphase gained 34¢ to $37.25. Research In Motion added 65, climbing to $58.25. Electronics manufacturing services company Celestica crept up 45¢ to $87.20.

Within the financial sector, Royal Bank of Canada slid 2¢ to $49.45. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce fell 31¢ to $50.93, and Bank of Nova Scotia dipped 20¢ to $41.

The Canadian Venture Exchange traded on slim volume today — just 31.8 million shares. Decliners on that exchange also outpaced advancing issues slightly — 211 to 199. The CDNX added just 24.41 points, climbing to 3,346.78

The Canadian dollar’s performance reflected the day’s general trend. It ended marginally higher amid extremely thin trading volumes. The U.S. dollar finished trading at C$1.54607.