Toronto stocks lost more ground Wednesday, as oil and gas prices moved once again into negative territory.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 79.39 points, or 0.67%, to 11,737.07, its third-straight losing session. The benchmark index is off a little over 2% for the week so far.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down on the session, including the energy sector, which lost 1.15%.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery ended down $1.56 at US$60.02 a barrel. OPEC’s president said that the group will not change its production level. Also, the U.S. Department of Energy reported crude inventories jumped last week by 10% over year-ago levels.

Canadian Natural Resources lost $2.42, or 3.68%, to $63.39.

The materials sector fell 1.36% as the April futures contract for gold ended down $10.20 at US$544.30.

Barrick Gold gave retreated 65¢, or 2.08%, to $30.55.

The Canadian dollar was off 0.44 of a cent to US86.48¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index lost 41.81, or 1.61%, to 2,550.34.

In New York, markets were mixed as investors absorbed energy prices, but continued to be concerned about possible interest rate hikes in light of inflationary pressures on the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 25.05 points to 11,005.74, off a session low of 10,922.73. The Nasdaq composite ticked down 0.92 point at 2,267.46. The S&P 500 climbed 2.59 points to 1,278.47.

The new NYSE Group Inc., in its first day trading as a public company, rose $15.75 to $80. The New York Stock Exchange had operated for 213 years as a member-owned exchange.