The S&P/TSX composite bounced back into positive territory Wednesday even though oil prices settled slightly lower, while U.S. markets ended the day mixed.

At close, the S&P/TSX composite was up 53.94 points or 0.56% at 9673.01, while the TSX Venture Exchange lost 16.29 points or 0.87% to 1856.07. On Wall Street, the Dow industrial average added 27.56 or 0.26% to 10486.02. The Nasdaq slipped 0.18 of a point of 0.01% to 1999.14 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 2.68 points or 0.23% to 1184.07.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.25 of a cent at US81.87¢ late in the session.

On Bay Street, the Toronto market strengthened as energy and mining stocks rose. Energy issues closed ahead 1.66%, while gold stocks added 0.95% and metals and mining issues were up 1.82%. Financials were up 0.33% while tech shares were basically flat.

Oil futures settled 19¢ lower at US$55.85 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, following the government’s weekly fuel supply report, which showed a 2.4 million barrel build in crude. The data also showed a 2.1 million barrel draw in gas inventories, however, which could cause some concern ahead of the summer driving season.

The price of gold added $2.60 in New York to US$427.10.

In New York, investors began to shift their focus from oil prices to company news as first-quarter profits started to roll in.

Analysts said Wall Street is likely to pay particular attention to the results of industrials and financial companies as it eyes the impact rising interest rates have had over the course of 2005’s first quarter.

The quality of corporate profits is likely to emerge as a bigger driver in the weeks ahead, analysts said, but Wall Street was also eyeing oil prices. A decline in crude coupled with a firmer dollar could help stocks break out of the low end of their current trading range.