Toronto stocks closed lower on Tuesday as investors sold financial services and transportation shares.

The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index sagged throughout the session. It finally closed down 96.45 points at 7,717.80.

Overall, 12 of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices were lower. Only the gold sector showed significant strength, up 2.5% as Barrick rose $1.18 to $30.04 after announcing a big new find in Peru.

The transportation sector was the big loser, off almost 5%, thanks to a fall in the price of CN Rail. CN Rail shares dropped $5.77 to close at $74.35.

The financial services sub-index fell 1.9%, as bank stocks came under pressure following a report from Statistics Canada that core inflation rose to 2.1% in March. The steady climb in inflation likely ensures that the Bank of Canada will continue to increase interest rates.

TD Bank lost $1 to close at $43.50, while Bank of Nova Scotia ended down $1.27 at $54.30. CIBC closed down $1.40 at $56.05.

Oil stocks also closed lower. Imperial Oil lost $1.16, closing at $45.65. Petro-Canada slipped 20¢ to finish at $41.65. Both companies reported sharp drops in earnings when they reported on Tuesday.

BCE lost another nickel, slipping to $23. The communications giant reports quarterly earnings on Wednesday.

Overall, declining stocks outnumbered advances on the TSE 629 to 481, with 188 issues unchanged. Market volume was 189.8 million shares.

The S&P/CDNX Composite Index closed down 8.05 at 1,164.08. Trading was heavy on a volume of 36.7 million shares worth 14.7 million dollars, with 196 advances, 219 declines and 605 issues unchanged.

On Wall Street, stocks closed lower Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average ended with a loss of 47.19 points to 10,089.24. The Nasdaq composite fell 28.38 points to 1,730.30, and the S&P 500 shed 6.87 points to 1,100.96. The Nasdaq struggled for the entire session, but the Dow had been in positive territory for much of the day before sliding late.

Today’s inflation report had a negative effect on the Canadian dollar. The loonie fell US0.16¢ to US63.51¢.