Toronto stocks closed lower Monday as gains in the energy sector were undercut by profit-taking among banking and gold issues.

The S&P/TSX composite closed down 57.33 points, or 0.4%, at 13,261.04.

Among the session gainers were energy stocks, up 0.8%, as crude oil rose US$1.02 to US$89.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. 2.8% and 1.1%, respectively.

The gold subgroup was 2.75% lower, as gold tumbled US$2.29 an ounce to US$903.18 on the Nymex. Barrick Gold Corp. fell $1.57, or 3.1%, to $49.07.

The financial sector was down 1.17% after four of Canada’s largest banks agreed in principle to join a restructuring of about $35 billion worth of Canadian asset-backed commercial paper that was managed by non-bank companies.

Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Royal Bank and Scotiabank have indicated they will participate as lenders in a $14 billion margin call funding facility which could be drawn on if further problems erupt.

CIBC fell $1.84 to $71.64, Bank of Montreal was up 8¢ at $58.15 and RBC shed 73¢ to $50.70.

Scotiabank was off 54¢ to $48.29 after it announced it is expanding in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 8.57 points, or 0.33%, to 2,567.73.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.07 cent at US100.67¢.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks ended lower after brokerages downgraded banks and credit card companies on signs consumers are falling behind on debt payments.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 108.03 points, or 0.85%, at 12,635.16. The S&P 500 was down 14.60 points, or 1.05%, at 1,380.82. The Nasdaq composite index was down 30.51 points, or 1.26%, at 2,382.85.

Financial stocks were in focus as UBS downgraded American Express, Capital One and Discover Financial to sell while Merrill Lynch cuts its ratings on Wachovia and Wells Fargo to sell because of the sharply deteriorating housing sector.