Canadian Stocks Finish Choppy Trading Day Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Following the modest pullback seen in the previous session, Canadian stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing up 21.20 points or 0.1 percent at 24,974.72.

The choppy trading on Bay Street came ongoing trade uncertainty, with the lack of concrete developments from trade U.S. trade talks keeping investors on edge.

During a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, President Donald Trump expressed frustration with the media's repeated questions about when the U.S. will sign new trade deals even as he claimed he "could sign 25 deals right now."

"I wish they'd ... stop asking how many deals are you signing this week?" Trump said. "Because one day we'll come and we'll give you 100 deals."

Statistics Canada released a report this morning showing the Canadian trade deficit narrowed to C$506 million in March from C$1.4 billion in February.

The narrower trade deficit came as imports slumped by 1.5 percent during the month, while exports dipped by a more modest 0.2 percent.

Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets, gold stocks moved sharply higher amid an extended surge by the price of the precious metal, driving the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index up by 3.6 percent.

Energy stocks also saw notable strength amid a rebound by the price of crude oil, while healthcare and technology stocks saw significant weakness.