Canadian markets were up Wednesday, even as the price of gold fell on light end-of-year trading.
After opening in negative territory, the Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark index, the S&P/TSX composite, rose 14.66 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 11,716.48.
The Canadian dollar fell to 1.04 cents U.S. from its previous of 95.80 U.S. cents.
Oil rose 12 cents U.S. to $78.99 U.S. a barrel and gold lost $8.80 U.S. to $1,089.30 an ounce on a stronger U.S. dollar.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average fell 36.5 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 10,508.91. The Nasdaq composite index was up 1.79 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 2,290.19.
Colin Cieszynski, market analyst at CMC Markets Canada wrote in a morning note that the market declines "suggests that this trading represents normal consolidation and profit-taking after several days of steady advances."
He added with the light news flow and the last day of trading for the year tomorrow, "we may see markets take a rest today as investors square away positions with the potential for a window dressing rally tomorrow."
Industry Minister Tony Clement approved the sale of Nortel Networks' Ethernet networks division to U.S.-based Ciena Corp. Ciena bid $769 million U.S. for the unit, part of Nortel's sale of assets following the Toronto company's filing for creditor protection in January.
Overseas markets were lower Wednesday. London's FTSE 100 index fell 17.03 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 5,420.58 at midday. Germany's DAX was down 54.12 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 5,957.43 and France's CAC lost 15.37 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 3,944.61.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 91.62 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 10,546.44. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 2.82 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 21,496.62.
On Tuesday, the S&P/TSX fell 52.8 points or 0.45 per cent to 11,701.81. The Dow Jones fell 1.67 points or 0.02 per cent to 10,545.41, and the Nasdaq composite index closed at 2,288.4, down 2.68 points or 0.12 per cent.
