Toronto stocks finished flat on Tuesday as gains in the financials, telecommunications and utilities sectors were essentially cancelled out by losses in information technology, industrials and resources. The S&P/TSX composite index gained 2.19, or 0.02%, to finish at 9,656.16.

Volume on the day was 185-million shares.

Of the 10 major TSX groups, five gained, while five fell. The heavily weighted financials category advanced 0.55%, utilities were up 1.29% and telecommunications gained 0.89%. Meanwhile, IT fell 0.93%, materials dropped 0.77% and industrials gave back 0.63%.

The price of oil closed at US$53.76 a barrel, down 73¢. Tomorrow the U.S. Energy Department will release its weekly data on U.S. crude and product supplies.

Both ACE Aviation Holdings, whose stock finished up 20¢, or 0.50%, to finish at $39.85, and West Jet, which gained 26¢, or 1.84%, to close at $14.42, posted gains based on strong system load factors — proportion of seats filled – for the month of May.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange fell 21.60, or 1.29%, to close at 1,655.67.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.05 of a cent to US80.03¢.

In New York, markets closed mixed. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 16.04, or 0.15%, to finish at 10,483.07. The Nasdaq fell 8.60, or 0.41%, to finish at 2,067. The S&P 500 lost 0.25, or 0.02%, to close at 1,197.26.

General Motors Inc. announced it plans to cut 25,000 manufacturing jobs by 2008. The automaker’s stock gained 31¢ to finish at US$30.73.

Markets were also positively affected by a bullish statement from U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who told a meeting of central bankers in Beijing that he expected the economy to remain strong.