Canadian markets were mostly unchanged as oil shares eased off early session highs Thursday, while U.S. markets got a boost from a jump in the shares of
Alcoa Inc.

At midday, the Toronto S&P/TSX composite index was up just 3.68 points or 0.04% to 9676.69. The TSX Venture Exchange was up 1.22 points OR 0.07% at 1857.29. In New York, the Dow industrial average moved added 36.15 points or 0.34% at 10522.17. The Nasdaq moved up 9.02 points or 0.45% at 2008.16 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 4.02 points or 0.34% to 1188.09.

The Canadian dollar was unchanged at US81.91¢.

On Bay Street, oil stocks began the day strong but slid back during the morning. By midday they were still ahead, however, up 0.66% as oil prices held near US$56 a barrel. U.S. light crude rose 5¢ to US$55.90 a barrel, more than $2 below Monday’s record at US$58.28 and well off its intraday high Thursday of US$56.84.

The TSX gold sub-index was ahead 1.05%, while financials were off 0.40%. Tech stocks slipped 0.28%.

Big gainers in Toronto included Placer Dome, up 28¢ to $19.61 in heavy trading and Barrick Gold Corp., which added 35¢ to $29.73. Encana Corp. was up 50¢ to $89.65, while the Royal Bank of Canada slid 20¢ to $73.88

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks rose as shares of Alcoa Inc. lifted the Dow and retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. boosted the Nasdaq after posting better-than-expected earnings. Alcoa rose $1.27 to US$31.25 a day after the company reported a 13 percent increase in fourth-quarter revenues and posted earnings that met Wall Street expectations.

Bed, Bath & Beyond rose $3.44 to US$40.18 a day after the company posted fourth-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street estimates.

Shares of drugmaker Pfizer Inc. fell 43¢ to $26.43 after the company agreed to suspend sales of its arthritis drug, Bextra, at the request of regulators.

Overseas, London’s FTSE 100 index was up 34.8 points at 4982.2 just before the close. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was up 11.28 points at 4,390.46 while the Paris CAC 40 moved 20.16 points higher at 4,127.15.

Tokyo’s Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues fell 16.17 points or 0.14% to 11,810.99 as investors locked in profits following recent gains. Hong Kong’s blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 40.09 points or 0.3% at 13,602.35.