Toronto stocks closed lower on Tuesday despite strong gains in the gold sector. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 28.66 points to 7,737.39.

The health-care sector dropped 2% to lead all groups lower, while the heavily weighted financial index fell 0.7%.

Shares of Biovail, hurt recently by disappointing profit forecasts, fell 67¢ to $31.03, while QLT slipped $1.38 to $20.85.

Gold stocks rose nearly 4% to their highest level since mid-2002 as bullion prices are expected to soon top the US$400 level.

Barrick Gold gained 70¢ to $28.00, while Kinross Gold advanced 50¢ to $10.97.

Among financial stocks TD shares slipped 86¢, to $41.38, while Bank of Montreal shed 59¢ to $50.30.

Canada’s banks are scheduled to kick off their fourth-quarter reporting season next week.

Market momentum was positive as 632 issues advanced and 604 declined. TSX Volume was robust as 341 million shares changed hands.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 18.06 points to finish at 1,634.38.

On Wall Street, stocks fell for the fourth straight session. The Major market gauges opened higher and then weakened.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average closed down 86.67 points at 9,624.16. The broader S&P 500 slipped 9.48 points to 1,034.15. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 27.86 points, almost 1.5%, to 1,881.75.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.74 of a cent to close at US76.94¢.