U.S. markets lost three-quarters of a percentage point Wednesday as oil prices began to edge up again, while Canadian markets were lower as the price of gold continued to slide.

At close, the S&P/TSX was down 56.22 points or 0.64% at 8729.64, while the TSX Venture exchange was off 13.52 points or 0.81% at 1662.35. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average managed to stay above the 10,000 mark, but not by much; it lost 74.85 points or 0.74% to 10002.33. The Nasdag fell 4.64 points or 0.24% to 1920.53 and the S&P 500 had lost 8.2 points or 0.73% at 1113.64.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.35 of a cent against a strengthening U.S. dollar to US79.52¢ late in the day.

December gold futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s COMEX division ended off $2 at $414.60 an ounce, in a range from $417.30 to $410.50, which was its weakest price since Sept. 28. After breaking down from a six-month high at US$426 an ounce on Friday, gold finally gained traction above support at $410 on Wednesday.

Still, the drop was enough to depress the Toronto Stock Exchange. Gold shares led the way lower, losing 2.45%. Placer Dome, off 3.76% and Barrick Gold, off 2.4%, were among the bigger losers.

Energy stocks lost 1.5% as a group as oil prices opened the day slightly lower.

Only financials and tech stocks were in the black, up 0.61% and 0.54%, respectively. All of the Big Five banks were up, including Bank of Montreal, which advanced 0.8% after announcing it and U.S. subsidiary Harris Bank are paying $197.4 million in cash for Indiana’s 19-branch Mercantile Bank as they bolster their successful operations in the U.S. Midwest.

Crude oil futures opened lower, a day after trading above US$54 per barrel, raising hopes for a better economic picture by year’s end. But as oil traders became less bullish about U.S. inventories and worries grew about Hurricane Ivan’s lingering impact on production in the Gulf of Mexico, prices began to soar. Light, sweet crude for November delivery surged $1.13 to US$53.64 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow index dipped below 10,000 for a while on Wednesday as oil prices resumed their climb, while a steep decline in commodity prices dented metals stocks.

Alcoa Inc., the world’s No. 1 aluminum producer, fell 3%. On the New York Stock Exchange, the five biggest percentage decliners — all down by 10 percent or more — were metals producers.

The jump in oil prices sent stocks sharply lower, reversing a solid open on strong quarterly earnings from fast-food chain McDonald’s Corp. and tech companies Intel Corp. and Yahoo Inc.