April 6 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index changed little in choppy trading on Monday, as investors digested news that the U.S. and Iran were considering a proposed ceasefire that may bring the more than month-long Middle East war to a close.
At 10:10 a.m. ET, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (.GSPTSE), was up 0.04% at 33,121.29.
The Pakistan-brokered framework proposes an immediate ceasefire followed by talks on a broader peace settlement to be concluded within 15 to 20 days, a source aware of the proposals said on Monday.
However, investors remained cautious as a senior Iranian official said Tehran would not reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz as part of a temporary arrangement and claimed Washington was not ready for a permanent ceasefire.
"Until the uncertainty clears up and we get some kind of direction, things will be highly volatile with a lot of back and forth as we've seen the last couple of weeks," said Michael Dehal, senior portfolio manager at Dehal Investment Partners, Raymond James.
U.S. President Donald Trump will speak about the ceasefire proposal at a press conference at 1 p.m. ET, a White House official told Reuters.
Oil prices recovered from declines earlier in the day, but the TSX's energy subindex (.SPTTEN), remained down 0.2%.
Consumer staples (.GSPTTCS), led gains with a 0.4% rise, while financial shares (.SPTTFS), the heaviest-weighted on the benchmark, rose 0.3%.
Six of the 11 TSX sectors were in the green.
Meanwhile, the gold subindex (.SPTTGD), fell 0.8% and the broader materials sector (.GSPTTMT), which includes metal miners, slipped 0.6% as precious-metal prices dipped.
Among individual movers, defense contractor MDA Space (MDA.TO), gained 6.4% after brokerage Jefferies initiated coverage with a "buy" rating.
Reporting by Utkarsh Tushar Hathi; Editing by Jonathan Ananda
