North American stocks closed lower Wednesday, as markets reacted to concerns over North Korea’s missile testing and worries about interest rate hikes.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 106.44 points, or 0.91%, to 11,626.44.

All 10 TSX main sub-groups were down.

The materials index dropped 1.25%, though gold rallied on geopolitical worries.

The front-month contract closed up $13.70 at US$629.70 an ounce

The financials sector was off 1.07%, giving back most of its gains from the previous session.

Manulife Financial gave up 51¢, or 1.41%, to $35.69.

The energy index was down 0.44%, despite a spike in the price of oil.

The August crude contract closed up $1.26 at US$75.19 a barrel.

Earlier in the session, oil prices hit a new intraday record high of US$75.40.

The Canadian dollar receded 0.36 of a cent to US89.99¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index dipped 4.93 points, or 0.19%, to 2,659.69.

On Wall Street, provocative moves by North Korea and concerns that inflation is on the rise had investors in a bearish mood.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 76.20 points, or 0.68%, to 11,151.82. The S&P 500 closed off 9.28 points, or 0.72%, at 1,270.91 and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 37.09 points, or 1.7%, to 2,153.34.