Toronto stocks eased lower Tuesday, as strength in the resource sectors was overshadowed by weakness in the gold sub-group and a negative session in the financial sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 5.05 points, or 0.04%, to 14,141.69.

Half of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down.

The energy index gained 0.50%

Light, sweet crude for July delivery slid 60¢ to close at US$65.61 a barrel.

Nexen Inc. gained 69¢, or 2.10%, to $33.48.

The materials index was up 0.33%, but the gold sub-index fell 0.33%.

Gold futures lost $1.20 to US$675.10.

Iamgold Corp. lost 3¢, or 0.37%, to $8.08.

Financials gave up 0.36%.

Royal Bank of Canada fell 17¢, or 0.29%, to $57.47.

The Canadian dollar lost 0.41 of a cent at US94.07¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index ended the day flat, up just 0.12 of a point to 3,279.13.

In New York, markets were down in reaction to comments from U.S. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke suggesting the domestic economy was likely to rebound. That dashed hopes for an interest rate cut anytime soon.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 80.86 points, or 0.59%, to 13,595.46, the Nasdaq composite index fell 7.06, or 0.27%, to 2,611.23, the S&P500 dipped 8.23, or 0.53%, to 1,530.95.