TORONTO _ The Toronto stock market was little changed Wednesday as traders awaited an official proposal from Greece to extend a bailout program that would keep the country solvent and within the euro currency bloc.
The S&P/TSX composite index declined 6.11 points to 15,278.5, weighed down by energy stocks as oil prices backed off after three days of strong gains.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.52 of a cent to 80.29 cents US.
U.S. indexes were lower ahead of the afternoon release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting held last month. Analysts say that a series of strong economic reports has made it difficult for the Fed not to raise rates from near zero, where they have been since the financial collapse of 2008, as early as June.
The Dow Jones industrials fell 31.53 points to 18,016.05, the Nasdaq shed 2.59 points to 4,896.68 and the S&P 500 index was down 3.58 points to 2,096.76.
The Greek plan being presented Wednesday would involve extending the 240 billion euro international loan agreement that has kept the country afloat since 2010. However, it was unclear whether that would be acceptable for Greece's European creditor countries since the new government in Athens insists it will not accept any extension of previous bailout conditions.
Greece's creditors in the 19-country eurozone have given Greece until the end of the week to request an extension of the bailout agreement. After that, emergency liquid assistance (ELA) from the European Central Bank will likely dry up.
``This would likely precipitate the need to set up capital controls to avoid capital flight out of Greece, and Greek banks would likely have to introduce limits on cash withdrawals,'' said a commentary from Barclays Research.
``In this event, the Greek government could also quickly run out of cash.''
The energy sector led decliners, down 1.2 per cent while oil prices declined with the March contract down $1.41 to US$52.12 a barrel.
Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE) was a major weight on the sector after it said Tuesday after markets closed that it is raising $1.5 billion through the sale of 67.5 million common shares priced at $22.25 each in a move aimed at shoring up its balance sheet in the face of plummeting oil prices. Its shares fell $1.13 to $22.16.
Financials also weighed, down 0.4 per cent.
The metals and mining sector led advanceers, up 2.3 per cent while March copper gained three cents to US$2.61 a pound.
April gold faded $1.30 to US$1,207.30 an ounce and the gold sector was up one per cent.
Investors also digested disappointing U.S. economic data. Industrial production grew by 0.2 per cent during January, lower than the 0.4 per cent reading that economists expected.
Other stocks to watch include Western Forest Products Inc. (TSX:WEF), which posted quarterly net income of $12.9 million, or three cents a share, down from $49.9 million, or 13 cents a share a year ago. Revenue was $232.6 million, down from $242 million a year ago. Benefits from the weaker Canadian dollar, as well as gradual improvement in U.S. new home construction starts, were more than offset by a weak market in China for logs and commodity lumber, and reduced lumber demand from Japan and its shares fell 13 cents to $2.48.