The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that U.S. and Canadian stocks ended with nominal gains on Tuesday as investors parsed conflicting remarks from Federal Reserve officials, with upbeat U.S. consumer data providing some lift. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that market participants are now scrutinizing remarks from monetary policy-makers ahead of next month's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Fed governor Christopher Waller said on Tuesday he is "increasingly confident" that the current level of the central bank's policy rate is sufficiently restrictive and even hinted at the possibility of rate cuts in the months ahead should inflation continue to fall closer to the Fed's 2-per-cent target. On the other hand, remarks from Fed governor Michelle Bowman suggested another rake increase could be necessary to rein in inflation in a timely manner. The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 4.11 points at 20,036.77. The energy sector rallied as the price of oil settled 2.1 per cent higher at $76.41 (U.S.) a barrel on the possibility OPEC+ will extend or deepen supply cuts. Gold climbed to a more than six-month high, but Scotiabank stumbled on a big miss relative to Street expectations.