Toronto stocks fell Wednesday, with the financials and utilities sectors leading the market downward. Meanwhile oil and gold prices rose on geopolitical worries.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 21.91 points, or 0.19%, to 11,771.07.

Seven of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down.

Financial stocks were off 0.60%. The Bank of Nova Scotia slipped 24¢, or 0.52%, to $45.74.

The utility sector moved down 1.67%. Transalta fell 69¢, or 2.91%, to $23.06.

The energy sector finished down a slim 0.03%.

Light, sweet crude futures gained 79¢ to US$74.95 a barrel.

The materials index was up 0.27%.

Gold futures gained $8.10 to US$651.20.

In M&A news, Bell Globemedia announced it will buy broadcaster CHUM Ltd., possibly spurring a new round of consolidation in that sector. Astral Media shares climbed 9.35%, while Corus Entertainment shares rose 9.3%. CHUM shares were halted while BCE Inc. stock fell 21¢ to $26.20.

Shares of Petro-Canada fell 33¢, or 0.62%, to $52.65, after the firm raised its bid for Canada Southern Petroleum Ltd. to US$13 a share in cash.

The Canadian dollar lost 0.19 of a cent to close at US88.16¢ after Statistics Canada reported the country’s total merchandise trade surplus moved up in May to $4.1 billion from a revised $3.9 billion in April. But that missed expectations of $4.5 billion as declines in the energy sector in May contributed to a fourth drop in exports in five months.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 22.33 points, or 0.85%, to 2,659.70.

In New York, U.S. markets closed lower on concerns that the current earnings season will fall short of expectations.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 121.59 points to 11,013.18, the Nasdaq was down 38.62 points to 2,090.24, while the S&P 500 dropped 13.67 points to 1,258.85.