The Toronto Stock Exchange continued its descent on Tuesday, dragged lower by materials and energy stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 46.77 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 9,348.03.

Gold for June delivery lost US$14.60, or 1.6%, to end at US$893.60 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Lower gold prices pulled the sub-gold index down 2.4%, while the materials group fell 1.6%.

Shares of Goldcorp Inc. fell 2.5% to $34.12 and Barrick Gold Corp. dropped $1.08, or 2.9%, to $35.60.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. declined $1.81, or 3.1%, to $56.01.

Higher for the day was Potash Corp., up 1.4% to $100.71.

The energy group dipped 1.2% on Tuesday as gold futures slipped lower. Crude for June delivery dropped US$0.22, or 0.4%, to US$49.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares of Petro-Canada finished nearly flat after the company reported a loss of $47 million for the first quarter of 2009, down from profit of $1.08 billion in the same quarter last year. Petro-Canada shares added $0.07 to close at $37.65.

Nexen Inc. shares slipped 0.8% after it reported net income of $135 million for the first quarter of 2009, down sharply from year-earlier profit of $630 million. Nexen’s stock shed $0.19 to $22.84.

Also lower on Tuesday was Suncor Energy Inc., down 1.2% to $30.11 and Talisman Energy Inc., lower by 1.2% to $14.35.

Financial stocks on the TSX finished the day in positive territory, edging up 0.2%.

Shares of Power Financial Corp. added 2.6% to $23.55 and IGM Financial Inc. gained 4.7% to $35.70.

CIBC shares rose $0.65, or 1.2%, to close at $53.65.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index retreated by 9.88 points, or 1%, to end at 993.1.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar descended by less than a tenth of a cent to settle at US81.93¢.

Stock markets in New York kicked off the day on a positive note, but shook off gains to finish with modest losses on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 8.05 points, or 0.1%, to close at 8,016.95.

The S&P 500 index dipped 2.36 points, or 0.3%, to end at 855.16.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 5.6 points, or 0.3%, to 1,673.81.

IE