Toronto stocks closed lower on Tuesday as investors engaged in some profit taking.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 70.65 points at
6,291.66.

Positive earnings from Stelco Inc and Imperial Oil were not enough to offset a restructuring announcement from CIBC and weaker oil prices.

The heavily weighted financial sector fell 2.35% financial sector, while energy stocks slipped 3.19%.

On Monday, CIBC said it will close or reduce its U.S. electronic banking operations, cut hundreds of jobs and take charges related its restructuring efforts.

CIBC stock dropped $3.10 on Tuesday to close at $39. Other bank stock moved in sympathy with Scotiabank slipping $2.66 to $46.76.

In the energy sector, shares fell as oil prices pulled back after U.S. President George W. Bush hinted that a war in Iraq could be avoided.

Suncor Energy fell $1.25 to $24.10, while Imperial Oil fell $1.17 to $43.39.

Gold was the strongest advancer, up 5% as the spot bullion price gained US$2.10 to US$312.70 an ounce. Goldcorp was up 62¢ to $15.47.

On a volume basis, Nortel Networks outpaced all other stocks with more than 42 million shares changing hands. The stock gained 7¢ to $1.27.

Bombardier climbed 18¢ to 4.40. Stelco was up 3¢cents to $3.92 after reporting third-quarter profits of $19 million, a turnaround from a year-ago loss of $19 million.

Inco nearly tripled its net profits to $91 million in the third quarter, as special currency and tax gains and rising sales helped boost the big nickel producer’s bottom line. Its shares closed down 85¢ to $29.85.

Overall volume on the TSX was 178,857,416 shares worth $2.5 billion. Decliners edged out advancers 546 6o 525.


The S&P/TSX Venture composite index added 3.34 points to 905.01.

In New York, Stocks retreated on Tuesday, snapping
a three-day streak of gains.

The Nasdaq Composite slumped 16.87 points to 1,292.80. The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 88.08 points at 8,450.16. The S&P 500 shed 9.56 points to 890.16.

The loonie ended the North American session at US63.73¢, down from US63.97¢ at Monday’s close.