Toronto stocks fell Monday even as oil prices retreated. At midday the S&P/TSX composite index was down 49.93 points or 0.57% at 8,730.87 points.

Crude futures fell below the US$55 a barrel mark after trading as high as US$55.67 overnight. The benchmark contract was 22¢ at US$54.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In Toronto, the energy sector was off 0.76 as EnCana lost 74¢ to $59.96 and Canadian Natural Resources backed off $1.21 to $52.80.

The biggest decliner on the TSX was the heavily wieighted financials sector down 1.02%with TD Bank off 79¢ to $47.33 and Manulife Financial down 92¢ to $53.06.

The gold sector was up almost 3% as the price of bullion rose $3.90 to UUS$427.90 as the greenback lost value and traders worried about the inflationary effect of high oil prices. Barrick Gold climbed 68¢ to $27.49and Wheaton River advanced 11¢ to $4.08.

In business news Shares in Magna International Inc. lost $3.44 to $83.48 after the auto parts giant made a $1.3-billion bid to take its three publicly traded auto parts subsidiaries private.

Proposals have been made to the boards of Intier Automotive Inc., Decoma International Inc. and Tesma International Inc. Intier shares were up $5.95 at $31.55, while shares in Decoma rose $2.06 to $12.01. Shares in Tesma climbed $6.06 to $35.81.

In earnings news, Dofasco reported third-quarter profits soared to $115 million from $29.7 million. However, the company warned fourth quarter results will be lower and its shares lost 79¢ to $40.95.

Shares in furniture maker Shermag Inc. dropped 38¢ to $8.92 after the company said its second-quarter earnings will come in below analysts’ expectations due in part to a five-month strike that closed a Quebec plant.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was up 3.91 points at 1,667.14.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar continued to show strong growth, rising 0.68 of cent to US81.74¢ as the American dollar sold off.

On Wall Street, stocks were mixed Monday as a decline in crude prices helped offset disappointing news on the earnings front.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 20 points, or 0.2%, to 9,738 in midday trade while the Nasdaq composite index fell 7 points, or 0.3%, to 1,908 and the S&P 500 lost 4 points, or 0.4%, to 1,092.