Canadian Stocks Close Roughly Flat Following Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - After failing to sustain an early move to the upside, Canadian stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Wednesday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing down 13.91 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 31,250.02.

With the slight decrease on the day, the S&P/TSX Composite Index closed lower for the fourth straight session after reaching a record closing high last Thursday.

Most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader market.

Energy stocks showed a strong move to the upside, however, with the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index jumping by 1.5 percent.

The strength among energy stocks came as the price of crude oil rebounded from its lowest levels since early 2021 after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers in Venezuela.

In a Truth Social post, Trump declared the government of President Nicolas Maduro a foreign terrorist organization and said he was ordering a "total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers" going into and leaving Venezuela.