Toronto stocks closed flat Wednesday after a volatile trading session.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed with a loss of just 0.87 of a point at 12,808.73 as resource stocks ended flat and there was shakiness in the financial sector.

The benchmark index fell 2% on Tuesday on concerns about the health of the U.S. mortgage market.

The influential TSX financial sector slipped down 0.45%.

TD Bank lost 65¢ to $67.60 while National Bank gave back 51¢ to $62.

Elsewhere on the TSX, the energy sector was ahead 0.1% after U.S. data showed crude supplies rising by a smaller-than-expected 1.1 million barrels last week while distillate supplies fell for a seventh week. The April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was ahead 23¢ at US$58.16 a barrel.

EnCana Corp. gained 56¢ to $55.18.

Ivanhoe Energy Inc. said its fourth-quarter loss deepened to US$11.3 million from US$8.9 million while revenues rose to US$11.1 million from US$8.6 million and its shares fell 13¢ to $2.40.

The mining sector came back from a steep drop to close up 0.2%.

First Quantum Minerals rose 16¢ to $63.65 as it reported fourth-quarter earnings of US$70 million, up from $57 million.

Gold prices were down sharply. The April bullion contract on the Nymex fell $6.90 to US$642.50 an ounce, but the TSX gold sector was up 1.1%. Goldcorp Inc. gained 60¢ to $27.95.


The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index lost 23.40 points, or 0.77%, to 3,009.47.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.13 of cent to US85.06¢.

In New York, markets came back from sharp losses to close higher.

The Dow Jones industrials gained 57.44 points, or 0.48%, to 12,133.49, after the blue-chip index at one point during the day sagged below 12,000 for the first time since Nov. 6.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 21.17, or 0.9%, to 2,371.74 while the S&P 500 index advanced 9.22, or 0.67%, to 1,387.17.