Canada's main stock index effectively broke even Thursday after paring back losses over the afternoon, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 0.66 points at 20,297.09.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 115.15 points at 33,535.91. The S&P 500 Index was up 39.28 points at 4,198.05, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 188.27 points at 12,688.84.

The Canadian dollar traded for 74.07 cents U.S. compared with 74.28 cents U.S. on Wednesday.

The July crude contract was down 95 cents at US$71.94 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was up 23 cents at US$2.59 per mm/BTU.

The June gold contract was down US$25.10 at US$1,959.80 an ounce and the July copper contract was down seven cents at US$3.69 a pound.