Toronto stocks closed flat on Tuesday, as investors engaged in profit taking after Monday’s big gains.

The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index slipped 5.71 points to 7,856.12.

Early in the day the Bank of Canada ended a 13-month streak of cuts to interest rates. The central bank issued a bullish statement on the recovery prospects of the Canadian economy.

Overall nine of the TSE’s 14 sub-indexes closed lower. Volume was strong as 201.1 million shares were traded.

Market momentum was slightly positive as 589 issues advanced and 502 declined.

The pipelines group fell 2.62%, led TransCanada Pipelines Ltd., which fell $1.21 to $21.59.

Gold stocks fell 1.36%. by Placer Dome Inc. gave up 70¢ to $17.34, while Meridian Gold dropped $1.04 to $19.95.

Bank of Nova Scotia rose 58¢ to $51.33 after reporting its first-quarter net profit slumped as charges related to Argentina.

Overall the financial services sector slipped 0.02%, as Royal Bank shed 50¢ to $52.25.

The S&P/CDNX Composite Index closed up 1.44 at 1,133.10. Trading was also heavy on a volume of 36.9 million shares, with 186 advances, 237 declines and 533 issues unchanged.

In New York, the Dow ended lower as investors took profits after two days of gains.

The Nasdaq gained a little ground thanks in part to analysts’ positive comments on Intel and another piece of encouraging economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 153.41 points, or 1.5%, to 10,433.41, while the S&P 500 fell 7.70 points, or 0.7%, to 1,146.14. The Nasdaq tacked on 6.98 points, or 0.4%, to 1,866.30.

The Institute for Supply Management’s latest non-manufacturing business index beat expectations, showing a reading of 58.7 in February, up from 49.6 in January.

The Canadian dollar edged higher, up 0.07¢ to US62.95¢.