* Technology, gold shares down (Adds details, quotes)
By Claire Sibonney
TORONTO, March 30 (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index went for a bumpy ride on Tuesday morning as gains in the heavyweight energy and financial sectors were offset by weaker gold and technology shares.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM.TO) was down 2.5 percent at C$75.30 following a report that smartphone rival Apple Inc (AAPL.O) was developing a new iPhone for Verizon Communications (VZ.N). [ID:nN30140851]
"Apple's market share of the smart phone market is only 3 percent so they have a lot of room to grow," said Barry Schwartz, vice-president and portfolio manager at Baskin Financial Services, adding that should make RIM shareholders nervous.
The tech sector was down 0.5 percent
On the upside, the heavyweight financial sector added 0.4 percent, with Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) ahead 0.5 percent to C$59.75, and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) rising 0.7 percent to C$51.45.
"Many of our Canadian banks touched 52-week highs," said Schwartz. "So what happens next, there's a lot of feeling that loan losses are going to come down dramatically second half of the year and 2011, which will improve earnings significantly."
At 10:42 a.m. (1442 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 23.05 points, or 0.2 percent, at 12,052.77. Earlier, the TSX dipped into negative territory after opening slightly higher.
Oil prices above $82 lent support to the powerhouse energy sector. Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO) rose 1.5 percent to C$32.43, while Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) was up 0.6 percent at C$73.88.
Higher base metal prices boosted miners such as Teck Resources (TCKb.TO), which added 2.5 percent at C$44.27, but gold stocks were largely down as bullion prices slipped. Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), the world's biggest gold producer, lost 0.6 percent to C$38.37.
"Gold has flatlined at $1,100 and there's really no reason in our opinion that it's going to go higher unless you have more continued U.S. dollar weakness because people who bought gold they bought it for a hedge against serious calamity in financial markets and that's been abated now," said Schwartz.
U.S. data on Tuesday showed consumer confidence rebounded in March while home prices rose in January for an eighth straight month, bolstering hopes for a sustainable economic recovery. [ID:nN30145876]
Yellow Pages Income Fund (YLO_u.TO) was down 0.3 percent at C$6.20, after its subsidiary Yellow Media Inc agreed to buy local search and directories publisher Canadian Phone Directories Holdings Inc (Canpages) for about C$225 million ($220.6 million). [ID:nSGE62T0D9] (Reporting by Claire Sibonney; editing by Rob Wilson)
