Toronto stock index hovers near break-even, loonie strengthens

TORONTO -- Canada's main stock index was hovering at the break-even point this morning.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 1.26 points to 16,456.99, after 90 minutes of trading.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 9.01 points to 25,536.08. The S&P 500 index was down 6.76 points to 2,830.68 and the Nasdaq composite index was down 39.86 points to 7,812.32.

The Canadian dollar was trading at 76.57 cents US, up from Thursday's average value of 76.54 cents US.

The September crude contract was down 43 cents to US$69.18 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was up three cents to US$2.79 per mmBTU.

The August gold contract was down $1.30 to US$1,224.40 an ounce and the September copper contract was unchanged at US$2.82 a pound.