Toronto stocks edged lower Tuesday as investors waited for the coming tide of quarterly earnings reports to provide direction. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 6.14 points, or 0.07%, at 9,026.42.

The healthcare sector dropped 1.5% to lead all declining sectors, while the telecoms groups followed closely with a 1% slide. Seven of the 10 TSX sector groups fell.

The influential financial index, which accounts for about 30% of the index, fell for the fifth straight session as last week’s speculation that the Bank of Canada could revive its campaign of interest-rate rises continued to weigh on the sector.

TD Bank dropped 44¢, or 0.9%, to $48.65, while Sun Life Financial handed back 25¢, or 0.6%, to $39.16.

CI, which is 34% owned by Sun Life, reported a 173% rise in its second-quarter profit, benefiting from strong markets and recent acquisitions, despite a $53 million charge taken to compensate fund holders for allowing certain institutional investors to profit from market-timing.

CI shares fell 38¢, or 2.17%, to $17.11.

Energy stocks rose 0.33% as oil prices firmed in response to forecasts for a cold spell and and ongoing supply problems from big global producers.

EnCana Corp. shares rose 89¢, or 1.3%, to $67.59, while Talisman Energy gained 57¢, or 1.76%, to $32.99.

Tech bellwether Nortel Networks helped cushion the index’s fall with the telecom equipment maker’s shares rising after it released its long-awaited audited 2003 results.

Shares of Nortel were up 11¢, or 2.68%, at $4.22, their highest close in two weeks.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 8.52 points, or 0.48%, to 1,772.53.

On Wall Street, U.S. markets closed lower as the start of earnings season delivered disappointments from Advanced Micro Device and Alcoa.

Intel, which released its fourth-quarter results after the closing bell, posted earnings of 33¢ a share, 2¢ above expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial average dropped 64.81 points, or 0.61%, to 10,556.22, the lowest close of the blue chips since Dec. 10.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 17.42 points, or 0.83%, to 2,079.62. The broader S&P 500 lost 7.26 points, or 0.61%, to 1,182.99.