Toronto stocks were lower Wednesday as a jump in profit at TD Bank failed to halt selling in the heavily weighted financial group. Shortly before midday, the S&P/TSX composite index was down 35.68 points, or 0.40%, at 8,959.51.

Four of the 10 TSX groups were lower, led by a 1.14% drop in financial stocks.

TD Bank said today that its annual profit more than doubled to $2.3 billion as fourth-quarter income rose to $612 million. But the bank said that extremely strong growth in personal banking may not be sustainable over the long term. TD shares dropped 1.74% to $46.31.

Royal Bank was down 1.1% to $61.97. Bank of Montreal lost $1.40 to $55.30 on top of Tuesday’s $1.15 slide after warning of slower earnings growth in the wake of a record annual profit.

Toronto energy stocks slipped 0.61% as the price of light sweet crude for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 31¢ to US$48.63 a barrel.

Among the morning’s gainers, information technology stocks rose 1.18%. Shares in Nortel Networks rose 7¢ to $3.84 after the firm issued a statement that played down the likelihood of stock market delistings over its delay in filing financial statements. ATI Technologies was up 70¢ cents, 3.1%, to $23.30.

Active stocks included Leitch Technology. Its shares tumbled 18.76% to $8.49 after the broadcast equipment maker missed earnings expectations even as it achieved its first net profit in four years.

Patheon was up another 4% at $8.64 after yesterday’s 8% jump.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 2.38 points, or 0.14%, to 1,698.22, on volume of 38 million shares.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.34 of a cent to US84.64¢, as the U.S. greenback continued to weaken. On Wall Street, the Dow industrial average was down 3.40 points to 10,508.41 as U.S. markets wind down ahead of the American Thanksgiving holiday Thursday and a half-day of trading in New York on Friday.

The Nasdaq composite advanced 10.29 points to 2,094.57 while the S&P 500 index gained 1.90 points to 1,178.84.

U.S. orders for durable goods decreased by 0.4% in October from September. Factory activity was weighed down by weakness in new bookings placed for automobiles, computers, electrical equipment and primary metals, which includes steel.

Economists had forecast a 0.5% increase in durable-goods orders for October.

On a more optimistic note, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index rose to 92.8 during November.

Investors were also relieved at the latest reading on U.S. unemployment claims in the U.S. They fell last week to a three-month low of 323,000 last week.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar hit a new low against the euro, which rose to US$1.3153.

Toronto stocks closed flat in mixed trading Tuesday as gains in energy shares offset losses in the financial group. The S&P/TSX composite index finished the session up 3.71 points, or 0.04%, at 8,995.19, its highest close since February 2001. Volume was 263 million shares.

index slipped 5.24 points, or 0.31%, to 1,700.60. Volume was 101 million shares.

In New York, stocks closed little changed as tech bellwether Intel dropped after an investment bank lowered its rating on shares of the world’s largest chip maker, but oil prices receded from recent highs.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average finished up 3.18 points, or 0.03%, at 10,492.60. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index shed 0.91 of a point to 2,084.28. The broader S&P 500 closed down 0.30 of a point at 1,176.94.