Gold and industrial stocks were up Tuesday morning, but oil stocks pushed the TSX lower, while U.S. markets were up on news of falling crude prices.

At midday, the S&P/TSX was off 3.25 points or 0.3% to 9627.65, after losing eight points on Monday. The TSX Venture exchange was down 8.57 or 0.45% to 1877.71. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 29.50 or 0.28%, off its session highs, to 10450.64, after gaining 17 points. Broader stock indicators also moved higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 3.78 or 0.32% at 1179.90, and the Nasdaq composite index added 3.03 or 0.15% to 1994.10.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.08 of a cent to US81.93¢.

Canadian industrial stocks rose 0.93%, led by Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. after the country’s second- biggest railroad boosted its 2005 profit forecast. CPR stock was up 92¢ or 2.1% to $44.70.

Gold shares on the TSX were up 0.8% as gold prices in New York rose $1.10 to $427.10 from a one- week low on speculation the dollar may decline, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative to U.S. stocks and bonds.

But the benchmark TSX Composite Index was held back as a decline in oil prices sent energy companies such as Imperial Oil Ltd. lower. The TSX energy group was off 0.53%. Imperial Oil, Canada’s No. 1 oil company, dropped 99¢ or 1.03% to $95.33.

In New York, the drop in oil prices lifted stocks as investors waited for Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s speech on energy and interest rates later in the day.

Greenspan was expected to speak via satellite at a petrochemical industry association meeting in San Antonio, and many on Wall Street expected him to make a case for higher interest rates.

Crude oil futures fell ahead of the speech, with a barrel of light crude quoted at US$56.80, down 21¢ on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In corporate news, Morgan Stanley was down $1.46 at US$56.84 after the company announced late Monday it would spin off its Discover Card unit into a separately traded company. Few analysts said the spinoff would result in increased value for either company, and Lehman Brothers downgraded Morgan Stanley’s stock after the announcement.

Pfizer Inc. cut its 2005 profit forecasts by 6% and unveiled a four-year, US$4 billion cost-cutting program. However, implementing the program could cost up to US$6 billion through 2008. Pfizer gained 87¢ to US$26.80.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.92%. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.6%, Germany’s DAX index gained 0.28%, and France’s CAC-40 climbed 0.55%.