Toronto markets took a hit Tuesday amid falling oil prices and earnings from two of the country’s big banks that did nothing to cheer investors.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 236.44 points, or 1.6%, at 14,522.13, as nine of the 10 major TSX groups fell.

The financials group closed down 1.24%, as a week of quarterly bank earnings reports began.

Bank of Montreal shares closed down $1.24, or 2.53%, to close at $47.76, after it reported second quarter profits fell 4.5%, to $642 million from $671 million for the same period last year, mainly as a result of a drop in profits from the capital markets group.

Meanwhile, Bank of Nova Scotia shares fell 55¢, or 1.14%, to end at $47.65, after it reported second quarter earnings fell 6%, to $980 million from $1 billion in the same quarter last year.

BMO left its dividend unchanged, while Scotiabank increased its by 2¢, to 49¢ per common share.

In other influential areas of the market, the energy group sank 3.19%, as crude oil futures hit their lowest level in one week. The July crude contract closed down US3.34, at US$128.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares in Husky Energy Inc. fell $1.77, or 3.40%, to close at $50.35 and Talisman Energy Inc. shares fell $1.76, or 7.13%, to end at $22.94.

The materials group lost 2.49%, as the gold sub-index ended the session down 2.95%.

Gold for June delivery fell US$17.90, or 1.9%, to end at US$907.90 on the Nymex.

Kinross Gold Corp. shares were down 11¢, or 0.55%, to close at $20.03, after it announced it bought a 7% stake in Vancouver-based firm Riverside Resources Inc.

In other news, the Bank of Canada issued a statement saying it felt financial market conditions are improving and thus it halved its rollover of liquidity injections to the chartered banks, to $1 billion for May 29.

As well, the Supreme Court of Canada has granted BCE Inc. has a quick hearing on a Quebec Appeal Court decision related to the firm’s takeover. Canada’s highest court has not yet decided if it will hear the appeal, but agreed to speed up the process of deciding whether it will hear the case.


The Canadian dollar closed at US1.0067¢ against the greenback.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 68.25 points, or 2.51%, at 2,650.50.

In New York, markets regained some of the days earlier losses in afternoon trading despite weak housing and consumer sentiment data.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 68.72 points, or 0.55%, at 12,548.35.

The S&P 500 closed up 9.42 points, or 0.68%, to close at 1385.35.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 36.57 points, or 1.5%, to close at 2,481.24.

In U.S. economic news, sales of new homes increased in April for the first time in six months, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department. However, the 3.3% rise still leaves activity at a 17-year low.

As well, the U.S. Conference Board’s consumer sentiment index sank to 57.2, its lowest level in nearly 16 years in May and down from 62.8 in April.