Toronto stocks closed slightly lower Wednesday, while New York markets ticked up, as trade balance data released on both sides of the border had opposite effects.

Statistics Canada reported the trade surplus was just under $4 billion in May, down from $5.1 billion in April, and lower than the expected $4.7 billion.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported the national trade deficit shrank by 2.7% to US$55.3 billion, lower than the expected US$57 billion.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 4.42, or 0.04%, to 10,203.50.

Volume on the senior exchange was 187 million shares.

Reacting to the trade balance numbers, the Canadian dollar fell 0.33 of a cent to US82.82¢.

Five of the 10 TSX main sub-groups finished up on the day, including the financials sector, which was up 0.28%. The energy group fell 0.53%.

Light sweet crude for August delivery fell 61¢ to settle at US$60.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

EnCana Corp. lost 80¢, or 1.53%, to close $51.60.

PetroKazakhstan Inc. gained 35¢, or 0.90%, to close at $39.05 after ONGC Videsh Ltd., an arm of Indian state-controlled Oil & Natural Gas Corp, said it was considering making a US$3.5 billion bid for the company.

The information technology sector gained 0.37% as Cognos announced a deal with Boeing to supply business intelligence software. The Ottawa-based IT firm gained 38¢, or 1.03%, to close $37.30.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished down 7.95, or 0.46%, to close 1,716.31.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average improved 43.50, or 0.41%, to 10,557.39; the Nasdaq composite index advanced .96, or 0.04%, to 2,114.11; and the S&P 500 gained 1.08, or 0.09%, to 1,223.29.