Toronto stocks closed lower Tuesday, as both the financial and technology sectors weighed down the senior exchange. The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 45.46 points, or 0.43%, to 10,480.03.

Volume was 236 million shares.

The heavily weighted financials group dropped 0.96%.

In the first of this week’s bank earnings reports, Bank of Montreal reported its third-quarter profit declined 16% to $541 million. Cash earnings per share were $1.08, which came in 4¢ below analysts’ expectations. BMO Group shares declined $1.50, or 2.5%, to $58.50.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce dropped $1.08, or 1.54%, to $69.09 as investors anticipated its earnings report, which will be released tomorrow.

The information technology sector declined 0.80%

Nortel Networks lost 7¢, or 1.82%, to $3.77.

Intel Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd. are reported to be working on a deal that could see the chip maker using technology from RIM in its next-generation of chips. However, RIM shares dropped $1.16, or 1.25%, to $91.93 after it ran up 5% on the news yesterday.

The energy sector advanced 0.32%

U.S. light crude rose 6¢ to settle at US$65.71 a barrel.

Shares in PetroKazakhstan Inc. were up 65¢, or 1.21%, to $54.40 after India’s biggest state-run oil firm, Oil and Natural Gas Corp., said it is considering a rival offer for the Canadian company. Yesterday, China National Petroleum Corp. made a $4.2-billion-US bid.

Calgary-based oil and gas producers True Energy Inc. and TKE Energy Trust plan to merge and spin off a new exploration company. True Energy gained 51¢ to $5.55while TKE units moved up 42¢ to $10.72

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported the leading indicator gained 0.3% in July, which matched the gain posted in the previous month.

The Canadian dollar closed up 0.35 of a cent at US83.53¢.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 2.19 points, or 0.11%, to 1,922.26.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 50.31 points, or 0.48%, to 10,519.58. The Nasdaq composite index fell 4.16 points, or 0.19%, to 2,137.25, while the S&P500 declined 4.14 points, or 0.34%, to 1,217.59

Sales of previously owned homes dropped 2.6% in July as mortgage rates crept up, setting investors on edge. But even with the decline, sales posted the third-highest level on record.

In corporate news, General Electric Co. won a US$2.4 billion contract to develop an engine for the U.S. military’s next-generation stealth jet fighter. GE shares closed flat at US$33.97.