Resource and tech shares combined to send the Toronto stock market lower again on Tuesday. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 85.1 points to 12,467.99.

The index is down for four of the first six sessions of the year and has lost 3.4% so far this year.

The energy sector fell 1.5% as the February contract for light sweet crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 45¢ to US$55.64 a barrel.

Earlier in day, prices hit a low of $ US53.88 – the lowest level since June 2005 – but recovered as the day wore on following forecasts of cold weather moving into the U.S. Northeast.

Petro-Canada (TSX:PCA) gave back 76¢ to C$44.29 and Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) shed 55¢ to $54.65.

The metals and mining sector lost 1.8% with Teck Cominco Ltd. falling $2.32 to $77.35.

Shares in gold miner Crystallex International Corp. continued to slide in the wake of Monday’s announcement by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez that he plans to nationalize the country’s electrical and telecommunications companies.

Crystallex, which has the rights to the Las Cristinas gold project in Venezuela, saw its shares fall 37¢ or 9.1% to $3.66 after losing 9.5% in the previous session.

The information technology sector fell 2% in the wake of a big decline in Research In Motion Ltd. Shares in the BlackBerry maker fell $12.82, or 7.7%, to $154.01 a day after hitting a new 52-week high.

RIM shares tumbled after Apple Compute CEO Steve Jobs announced production of the new iPhone. The new product combines a mobile telephone with its iPod music device. Apple shares rose 8.3% to US$92.57

Apple announced it will change its name to Apple Inc., reflecting its increasing focus on consumer electronics.

Among individual stocks, Jean Coutu rose 59¢ to $14.40 after the drugstore chain said its second-quarter earnings soared to US$72.5 million from a year-earlier US$30.8 million on higher sales and a positive adjustment related to its $2.55 billion sale of U.S. stores to Rite Aid.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index declined 31.74 points to 2,799.91.

The Canadian dollar moved lower after a weaker-than-expected housing report, falling 0.05 of a cent to US85.02¢.

In New York, markets were mixed while investors weighed the potential impact of lower oil prices on the broader market and remained cautious about corporate earnings after Sprint Nextel Corp. issued a profit warning.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 6.89 points to 12,416.6. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 5.63 points to 2,443.83 while the S&P 500 dipped 0.73 of a point to 1,412.11.