Toronto stocks closed slightly lower Tuesday. The S&P/TSX composite index ended the session down 8.91 points at 6,931.25, after gaining 80 points Monday.

Before the market opened, the Bank of Canada announced its decision to hold ithe key overnight rate steady at 3.25%. The decision appeared to have little effect on stocks.

The health care sector rose 1.4% as Aeterna Laboratories rose 52¢ to $8.98, while Stressgen Biotechnologies climbed 19¢to $2.43.

Telecom stocks rose 1.31%, led by Telus, which was up $1.19 to $23.01.

Tech stocks slipped a 0.87% as Nortel slid 10¢ to $4.30.

The junior TSX Venture Exchange was off 2.2 to 1,088.78.

In New York, closed slightly higher. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 25.14 points, at 8,922.95. The broad S&P 500 added 4.56 points at 971.56. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 12.81 points, at 1,603.56.

It was a see-saw session for the Canadian dollar Tuesday. The loonie fell after the Bank of Canada stood pat on interest rates and put out a statement, suggesting a steady policy for the rest of the year.

But the dollar rebounded after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said it may be wise to lower U.S. interest rates as “insurance” against deflation. The loonie finished at US73.24¢ up from US73.02¢, at Monday’s close.