Toronto stocks retreated on Thursday as the heavily weighed financials group dragged the benchmark index lower. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 17.95 points, or 0.19%, to finish at 9,657.74.

Financial issued sagged 0.57% after the latest federal budget removed the cap on foreign assets held in tax-deferred retirement accounts, raising some concerns early in the day of an outflow of investment dollars.

Stronger bank profits failed to offset the retreat, with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce down 33¢, or 0.47%, at $70.17.

CIBC reported higher first-quarter earnings of $1.94 per share. But after a one-time gain from share sales was stripped out, its profit was $1.45 a share.

Toronto Dominion Bank, which also posted a higher first-quarter profit, closed unchanged at $50.10.

The gold subindex fell 2.17% as Placer Dome, the world’s fifth-biggest gold miner, dropped $1.62, or 6.9%, to $21.86.

Placer posted fourth-quarter earnings of 9¢ per share, below analysts’ expectations, because of higher costs and a strong Canadian dollar.

Fellow gold miner Iamgold gave back 28¢, or $3.09, to $8.77

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index climbed 25.88 points, or 1.33%, to end at 1,977.28.

In New York, stocks continued working to recoup big losses from earlier in the week.

After hovering around the flat line for most of the session, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at its best levels, up 75 points, or 0.7%, at 10,748.79.

Since Tuesday, when the blue-chip gauge tumbled 174 points to suffer its largest one-day slice since May 2003, the Dow has now recovered 137 points of that decline.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index, meanwhile, rose 20.45 points, or 1%, at 2,051.70 and the S&P 500 added 9.40 points, or 0.8%, to 1,200.20.