Toronto stocks sank Wednesday on declining commodity prices, and despite indications from the Bank of Canada that the current cycle of rate hikes might end with today’s quarter-point increase.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 116.02, or 1.01%, to 11,423.91, after falling as far as 11,345.08 in intraday trading.

The Bank of Canada raised its key rate a quarter point to 4.25%. The wording of its announcement left observers with the impression the central bank might not lift rates at the next announcement in July.

Nine of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with only the financials sector, up 0.59%, as the market’s one bright spot.

As the first of the so-called big six banks to report, Bank of Montreal announced a quarterly profit rose 7.1% to $644 million, and a boost to its quarterly dividend of 17%. BMO shares were off one cent at $61.50.

Shares of TD Bank led the banking group with a gain of 1.5 per cent, closing at $61.83.

Gold stocks were the main driver in the drop on the TSX as the June futures contract lost $36.20 to close at US$637.50 an ounce.

In response to the drop in the price of bullion, the TSX’s gold sub-index fell almost four per cent. Among individual stocks in the gold sector, Barrick Gold was down $1.10 at $33.70.

The materials sub-group lost 2.7%, while the health care and energy groups were off by 1.8%.

Energy stock lost ground as the contract for light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $1.90 to settle at US$69.86 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The TSX energy sector was off 1.85%.

Canadian Natural Resources fell $1.77, or 3.10%, to $55.31.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 90.55 points, or 3.21%, to 2,734.47.

In New York, markets ended somewhat higher on heavy and volatile trading, as investors absorbed negative economic news, but factored in lower commodity prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial average closed up 18.97 points at 11,117.32, above its intraday low of 11,030.47. The Nasdaq composite Index rose 10.41 points to 2,169.17, while the S&P 500 Index ticked up 1.99 point to 1,258.56.