Toronto stocks drifted lower Wednesday, after staging a rally early in the session, as pressure from falling oil prices and the continuing financial market turmoil in the U.S. had investors selling late in the day.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 19.27, or 0.15%, to 12,513.36, with seven of the 10 TSX main subgroups in negative territory on the day. The country’s senior equities index posted its third-straight day of losses.

The energy subindex fell 0.57% as the price of oil continued to move lower. Light, sweet crude for crude for November delivery fell 88¢ to close at US$105.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Imperial Oil Ltd. fell 63¢, or 1.37%, to $45.35.

The materials subindex rose 0.82% with the price of gold staging a comeback after a selloff in the previous session. Gold for December delivery closed up US$3.80 to US$895 an ounce on the Nymex.

Kinross Gold Corp. gained 39¢, or 2.22%, to $17.99.

The information technology subsector moved down 1.29%, weighed down by Nortel Networks Corp., which fell 26¢, or 9.19%, to $2.57.

The Canadian dollar ended the day at US96.46¢, down a modest .04¢.

The S&P TSX Venture Exchange moved up 12.04, or 0.78%, to 1,550.64.

In New York, markets were mixed and modestly changed Wednesday, as the positive news of investor Warren Buffet’s $5 billion investment in embattled Goldman Sachs was tempered by continuing uncertainty over the timing and substance of the proposed bailout of Wall Street firms.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 29 points, or 0.27%, to 10,825.17, the Nasdaq composite index gained 2.35, or 0.11%, to 2,155.68, and the S&P 500 fell 2.35, or 0.20%, to 1,185.87.