After fluctuating widely between gains and losses, the Toronto Stock Exchange finished lower on Tuesday, dragged down by deteriorating financial stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 55.89 points, or 0.7%, to close at 7,631.62.

Financial stocks shed 3.1% on Tuesday.

Manulife Financial Corp. shares continued to slide, falling $1.27, or 11%, to close at $10.31.

CIBC shares tumbled 4.9% to $38.26 and shares of Sun Life Financial Corp. dropped 7.9% to $17.44.

Bank of Nova Scotia shares remained flat after the company reported first quarter earnings of $842 million, up 1% from a year ago. Scotiabank shares closed at $27.02.

The Bank of Montreal saw its stock rise 2.4% after the bank reported a profit of $225 million, down 12% from a year ago thanks to charges related to challenging capital markets. BMO shares rose $0.65 to $27.64.

The materials group advanced 2.5% despite a drop in gold futures for a seventh consecutive session. Gold for April delivery, the most active contract, fell US$26.40, or 2.8%, to end at US$913.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The sub-gold index rose 2.8%.

Kinross Gold Corp. shares surged 5.7% to $20.71 and Goldcorp Inc. rose 4.6% to $36.44.

Shares of Inmet Mining Corp. advanced 5.1% to $27.00 and Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. increased 4.3% to $62.29.

Shares of Agrium Inc. surged $3.25, or 8.5%, to finish at $41.73.

Crude for April delivery ended up US$1.50, or 3.7%, at US$41.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

This helped the energy group move higher by 0.3%.

Suncor Energy Inc. saw its shares rise 5.3% to $25.01 and Imperial Oil Ltd. rose 2.1% to $39.01.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. advanced 1.6% to $37.14.

Other oil industry players declined, including Petro-Canada, down 1.8% to $25.12.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 4.17 points, or 0.5%, to close at 824.07.

The Canadian dollar remained flat, closing at US77.45¢.

In New York, the main indices also failed to hang onto gains on Tuesday afternoon, finishing the day lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 37.27 points, or 0.5%, to 6,726.02.

The S&P 500 dipped 4.49 points, or 0.6%, to close at 696.33. It is the first time the index has closed below 700 points since October 1996.

The Nasdaq composite index declined 1.84 points, or 0.1%, to end at 1,321.01.