Stocks Flat by Noon

Canada's main stock index struggled to stay afloat on Wednesday, after six straight sessions of gains, as investors took a breather while awaiting signals from ongoing trade developments.The TSX Composite Index changed direction and found its way upward 11.09 points by noon hour to 25,627.95The Canadian dollar subtracted 0.2 cents at 71.58 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 3.96 points to 661.86. All but three of the 12 subgroups were in the red, weighed most by gold, sinking 2.4%, materials, down 1.8%, and telecommunications, off 1.5%. The three gainers were industrials, ahead 1.1%, information technology, better by 0.6%, and financials, improving but 0.3%. ON WALLSTREET The S&P 500 hovered near the flatline on Wednesday as Wall Street tried to extend a strong start to the week that pushed the benchmark S&P 500 into the green for the year.The Dow Jones Industrials surpassed breakeven by only 0.04 points to pause for lunch Wednesday at 42,140.47.The much-broader index inched up 8.15 points to 5,894.70The NASDAQ Composite hiked 118.35 points to 19,128.43Technology stocks bucked the trend on Wednesday and extended gains from the start of the week. Shares of Nvidia advanced more than 2%, following news that it would send Saudi Arabia 18,000 of its top artificial intelligence chips. Peer chip stock AMD also rose more than 4% on the back of a $6-billion buyback.Week to date, the S&P 500 has gained more than 3% and the Dow is up more than 1%. The NASDAQ has soared more than 6%.This week’s pop also put the S&P 500 in positive territory for the year. At one point, the broader index was more than 20% below its record high set in February. Since hitting that April 7 intraday low, the benchmark is up more than 21%.Risk appetite grew this week after the U.S. and China temporarily slashed tariffs on a wide array of goods. The U.S. reduced tariffs on China to 30% earlier this week, while China lowered its own levies to 10% on U.S. imports. Both nations had threatened in April to impose tariffs above 100% on the other.The tentative agreement between the world’s biggest economies has led investors to hope it will eventually yield a more concrete trade agreement. China and the U.S. have not yet agreed to specific terms for a deal, however, and Trump said this week that a final agreement wouldn’t happen quickly. Prices for the 10-year Treasury were lower, raising yields to 4.52% from Tuesday’s 4.49%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. Oil prices fell off 51 cents to $63.16 U.S. a barrel. Prices for gold tailed off $63.30 to $3,184.50 U.S.