The Toronto stock market ended flat Tuesday as rising gold and energy shares were off set by falling industrial stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 3.66 points, 0.2%, to 12,781.54.

The energy sector advanced 0.45% as oil prices picked up after falling Monday in the wake of a warm-weather forecast in the United States.

The contract for light sweet crude for January delivery moved ahead 94 cents to US$63.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

EnCana shares rose 51¢ to US $55.46 while Suncor Energy Inc. was up $1.50 to $91.68.

The gold sector moved ahead 2% as the February contract for gold on the Nymex gained US$7.50 to $625.40.

Iamgold Corp. shares advanced 16¢ to $10.16 after the miner sold its stake in the Omai Bauxite Mining Inc. and Omai Services Inc. for US$46 million.

The information technology sector closed up 0.3% as shares in Nortel Networks Corp. were 81¢ higher to $28.30 after the company signed a five year contract valued at US$2 billion to provide equipment and services to major U.S. telecom firm Verizon Wireless.


The industrials sector was the leading decliner, down 0.7%, with Canadian National Railway down $1.04 to $50.69.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 4.98 points at 2,826.03.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.32 of a cent to US86.72, even after data showed the annual inflation rate in Canada rose to 1.4% in November, from 0.9% in October.

U.S. indexes finished mixed as investors put the best face on a surge in U.S. wholesale inflation in November and absorbed negative news from the tech sector and a plunge of almost 15% in Thailand’s stock market after the imposition of currency controls.

The Thai government said it will lift controls on foreign investment in stocks after the market tumbled.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 30.05 points to 12,471.32. The Nasdaq was down 6.02 points to 2,429.55 as earnings from business software maker Oracle suggested the tech sector is overbought; the S&P 500 index added 3.07 points at 1,425.55.

The U.S. producer price index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, jumped 2% last month, the biggest advance since a similar increase in November 1974.