Rising crude oil prices once again came to Bay Street’s rescue Tuesday, but together with disappointing economic news, dampened U.S. stocks.

At close, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite gained 6.07 points or 0.07% to 8464.14 on volume of 172 million shares, while the TSX Venture Exchange held on to finish up 3.66 points or 0.24% to 1511.54.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average lost 58.92 points or 0.58%, while the tech-laden Nasdaq fell 32.67 points or 1.73% to 1859.42 and the S&P 500 closed down 6.93 points or 0.63% to 1099.69.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.73 of a cent at US75.95¢.

As it has been for the past week at least, the catalyst for the markets was oil prices. The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange headed up US23¢ to US$44.05 a barrel after hitting US$44.24 overnight. The price was fuelled by fears of a terrorist attack in the U.S., concerns about the reliability of oil shipments from Russia and the reports there may not be much that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can do to stabilize prices.

The TSX energy group finished ahead 0.51%. Big gainers included Suncor Energy, up 52¢ or 1.35% to $38.90, and Talisman Energy, up 45¢ or 1.43% to $32. Gold shares as a whole were up, too, by 0.63%, as were financial stocks, up 0.08%. The tech sector closed lower by 1.5%, with Nortel Networks up 14¢ to $4.95.

On Wall Street, markets were hurt by a U.S. commerce Department report that said high energy prices discouraged U.S. consumers from opening their wallets in June as spending dropped by a sharp 0.7% from the previous month, the largest amount in three years.

Some economists, however, said June’s decline was largely expected and that the U.S. remained very healthy.