12:14 PM EDT, 05/06/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange is flat at midday on mixed sectors.

Energy and miners are the biggest gainers, up 1.8% and 1%, respectively. Info tech, down 1.2%, is the biggest decliner.

The resources heavy index has been buoyed by higher commodity prices. Oil prices rose off a four-year low early on Tuesday as traders buy the dip even as OPEC+'s weekend decision to add another outsized tranche of supply to the market in June threatens to push the market into surplus.

Gold prices were sharply higher for a second day on Tuesday on strong physical demand and as the dollar weakened.

The main focus of the day is likely to be PM Carney's visit to Washington for his first in-person meeting with President Trump. BMO Economics in its morning note said the visit comes at a crucial time, with trade and tariffs at the top of the agenda.

Meanwhile, veteran market watch David Rosenberg noted Canadian voters, in their "infinite non-wisdom", opted to put Trump on the ballot in the recent Canadian federal election and after that chose to re-elect the same Liberal party that had governed the country over a decade of "economic ineptness".

He added: "Instead of the April 28th election ushering in a period of political and economic stability, the exact opposite is likely to happen. Mike Myers won't care too much since he lives in the States, but Canadians, it seems to me, did just shoot themselves in the foot by voting strictly on personality and not policy in this extremely consequential election. More was at stake than just Donald Trump. And we will find out, in due course, that re-electing a party with such a dismal economic record and deliberate policy aimed at retarding progress in Canada's natural competitive advantages will go down the long and winding road of unintended consequences. It will be interesting to see how historians treat the collective myopic decision that the Canadian voting public just made. Something tells me less than favorably."

Staying on the economy, National Bank noted Canada's goods trade deficit narrowed more than expected in March as exports fell less than imports. The bank said with Washington imposing tariffs on a number of Canadian goods during the month, it was perhaps unsurprising that Canada's exports to the United States fell by 6.6%, the largest drop since the pandemic, with consumer goods playing a leading role in this decline. However, it added, this retreat was almost entirely offset by a 24.8% increase in exports to the rest of the world, the second largest expansion in data going back to 1997. National Bank noted a similar, albeit less pronounced, situation was observed on the import side, as Canada imposed retaliatory measures on its southern neighbour. Imports from the United States indeed fell by 2.9%, while those from other countries rose by 1.0%.

National Bank said the trade war was not solely responsible for the narrowing of the trade deficit in March; "wild" swings in the energy products category were also partly to blame. Imports in this segment fell by no less than 18.8%, the biggest drop since the pandemic, while exports fell by only 2.2%. Looking at trade volumes on a quarterly basis, National Bank noted that international merchandise trade is expected to make a positive contribution to GDP growth in the first quarter of 2025, with exports (+13.7% annualized) growing faster than imports (+11.8%).