Toronto stocks fell Tuesday, as resource stocks pulled back and the market absorbed news of a rate hike from the Bank of Canada and a Conservative-led minority government in Ottawa.

The S&P/TSX composite index lost 41.02 points, or 0.35%, to finish at 11,692.35.

Volume on the senior exchange was 327 million shares.

The Bank of Canada raised its key rate a quarter point to 3.75%, but its accompanying press release left investors with the impression that the central bank’s recent rate hikes might soon come to an end.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.24 of a cent to US86.73¢.

Eight of the 10 TSX main groups slipped, with the energy sector giving back 1.51% after strong gains since the beginning of the year.

Light sweet crude for March delivery falling $1.04¢ to US$67.06 US a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

EnCana Corp. fell $1.10, or 1.99%, to $54.17.

The futures contract for gold fell 60¢ to $558.10 US an ounce. The gold sub-sector fell 1.97%

Bema Gold Corp. dropped 15¢, or 3.45%, to $4.20.

Dofasco Inc. shares fell $1.38, or 1.92%, to $70.52, after ThyssenKrupp AG removed itself from the bidding for the Canadian steelmaker clearing the way for Arcelor SA’s $5.5 billion proposal.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 0.25% to 2,465.71.

In New York, markets rose modestly on positive earnings news from United Technologies Inc and McDonald’s Corp.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 23.45 points, or 0.22%, to 10,712.22, the S&P 500 added 3.04 points, or 0.24%, to 1,266.86, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 16.78 points, or 0.75%, to 2,265.25.