Crude oil prices bounced back somewhat late Thursday, but not enough to save Toronto markets, while U.S. investors coped with interest rate uncertainty after new data pointed to a slowdown in the economy.

At close, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 48.45 points or 0.52% at 9275.07, while the TSX Venture Exchange fell 24.79 points or 1.45% to 1685.51.

The Dow Jones industrials lost 128.43 points or 1.26% at 10070.37. The Nasdaq fell 26.25 points or 1.36% to 1904.18, its lowest level in six months, and the S&P 500 index eased 13.16 points 1.14% to 1143.22.

The Canadian dollar continued to drop in the wake of the agreement between Prime Minister Paul Martin and the New Democratic party that $4.6 billion in new social spending will be inserted into the budget. Late in the day, the currency was down 0.14 of a cent at US79.90¢.

In Toronto, falling commodity prices took a toll as gold futures ended lower, with the benchmark June contract down $1.70 at US$432.40 an ounce. Crude oil futures, meanwhile, turned higher in late-session trading after briefly dipping below US$50 a barrel as Wednesday’s supply data continued to play out in the energy pits. The benchmark June contract ended up 16¢ at US$51.77 after falling as low as US$49.80.

Overall, there were few signs of life on the TSX as energy (down 1%), gold (0.94%), metals and mining (2.38%) and tech (3.32%) shares all took sizable hits. Financial stocks were the only shares in positive territory, up 0.63%.

In New York, date from the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew at a 3.1% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the first quarter of 2005, the slowest growth in two years. Economists surveyed had been expecting gross domestic product to increase 3.6% Inflation also heated up in the March quarter. Core consumer prices increased at a 2.2% rate, putting the year-over-year increase at 1.6% — near the top of the Federal Reserve’s comfort zone.