Toronto stocks ended lower Tuesday as the market digested the Bank of Canada’s latest view of the economy, and energy and gold stocks slumped. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 69.75 points, or 0.77%, at 8,990.95. Volume was 262.8 million shares.

Crude oil prices tumbled to their lowest level in three months on expectations that the relatively mild weather in the U.S. so far this winter will lead to lower drawdowns on heating oil inventories.

Crude oil futures for January delivery closed down $1.52 at US$41.46 a barrel in New York. That pushed the TSX energy sector down 2.22%.

Adding to the drag, the materials group lost 1.23% with its gold stocks sliding 1.45% as bullion prices fell victim to a bout of profit-taking after the recent rally in precious metals.

Overall, nine of the TSX’s 10 groups finished lower, with financial services eking out a tiny 0.01% gain.

Among oil stocks, Canadian Natural Resources fell $1.87, or 3.91%, to $45.95, and Talisman Energy dropped $1.15, or 3.59%, to $30.90.

Several gold stocks fell more than 2%, including Meridian Gold, Kinross Gold and Placer Dome .

Iamgold fell 47¢, or 5.29%, to $8.42 after a second attempt at a merger failed.

Shareholders of Gold Fields Ltd. voted down an attempt to merge South African company’s international gold assets with Iamgold.

Investors were also mulling the central bank’s view on the economy after it opted to leave Canadian interest rates unchanged.

The Bank of Canada kept its key overnight interest rate at 2.50% on Tuesday as it tries to quell a rampant Canadian dollar that has begun to hurt the economy.

The central bank said it is keeping an eye on the potential effects of the falling U.S. dollar on the Canadian economy.

The prospect of no rate hike for many months helped drive the Canadian dollar lower on Tuesday. The loonie closed in Bank of Canada trading at US82.79¢, down 0.49¢ rom Monday’s close.

The junior S&P/TSX venture composite index lost 13.04 points, or 0.76%, to end at 1,712.19.

In New York, blue-chip stocks suffered their first triple-digit decline in three weeks and the Nasdaq its biggest point loss in six weeks.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 106.48 points, or 1%, at 10,440.58 — logging its first triple-digit loss since November 19.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index slid 36.60 points, or 1.7%, to 2,114.65 — its biggest point drop since October 22.

The S&P 500 (dropped 13.18 points, or 1.1% to 1,177.07.