The Toronto stock market slid lower Tuesday, dragged down by declines in financial and resource issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 78.25 points, or 0.6%, at 14,153.03.

The heavyweight financial sector, was down 1.2%.

Bank of Montreal was down $1.08, or 1.7%, at $62.09, while Royal Bank of Canada dropped 64¢, or 1.2%, to $54.90.

Overall, seven of the 10 main groups were down.

The materials sector, home of resource stocks, fell 1.2,%, while the gold subsector slid 1.6%.

Teck Cominco fell $2.53, or 5%, to $47.68. Kinross Gold slipped 53¢, or 3.2%, to $16.20.

Offsetting the decline was strength in energy issues as oil prices continued to soar on supply worries and political tensions in northern Iraq. Crude rose to US$87.61 a barrel, edging down from a record US$88.20 earlier in the day.

The energy sector rose 0.8%. Canadian Natural Resources gained $1.56, or 2.2%, to $73.67.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index inched up 0.43 of a point to 3,014.84.

The Canadian dollar slumped after the Bank of Canada left its key interest rate at 4.5%.

The currency was down 0.38 cent at US102.04¢ as the central bank said it expects that both core and total inflation will return to its two per cent target by the second half of next year.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday after disappointing results from Wells Fargo & Co and other big banks combined with soaring oil prices to sour the outlook for corporate profits.

Shares of Wells Fargo and KeyCorp dropped after the banks’ profits fell short of Wall Street’s estimates as credit losses took a toll.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 71.86 points, or 0.51%, to end at 13,912.94. The S&P 500 slid 10.18 points, or 0.66%, to 1,538.54. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 16.14 points, or 0.58%, to 2,763.91.

After the bell, Intel posted a 43% increase in quarterly profit, helped by higher sales of notebook personal computer microprocessors and its restructuring efforts.