Toronto stocks failed to hang onto early-day gains on Tuesday, with energy shares dragging the benchmark index into negative territory by day’s end.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 10,307.40, down 87.38 points, or 0.8%.

The energy group fell 2.4% as oil futures finished slightly lower. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July crude lost 15¢, or 0.2%, to end at US$70.47 a barrel.

Shares of Petro-Canada tumbled 3.3% to $45.70 and Imperial Oil Ltd. fell 2.6% to $44.10.

Suncor Energy Inc. dropped $1.29, or 3.4%, to end at $36.18.

Also lower was Nexen Inc., down 3.7% to $25.80.

Materials stocks finished lower by 0.4% on Tuesday.

Shares of Teck Resources Ltd. plummeted $1.13, or 5.8%, to $18.27.

Agrium Inc. dropped 4.2% to $52.25.

But gold stocks bucked the trend and made gains during Tuesday’s trading, sending the sub-gold index up 1.8%. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, August gold gained US$4.70, or 0.5%, to end at US$932.20 an ounce.

Shares of Goldcorp Inc. added 2.2% to $39.18.

Barrick Gold Corp. gained 1.7% to $37.95.

Financial stocks slipped 0.5% on Tuesday.

Shares of Royal Bank of Canada fell 1.2% to $44.66.

TMX Group Inc. dipped 1.6% to $31.83 and Canadian Western Bank retreated 2.9% to $16.91.

Higher for the day was Intact Financial Corp., up 1.2% to $34.25.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index advanced on Tuesday, adding 6.24 points, or 0.6%, to close at 1,139.19.

The Canadian dollar slipped US0.17¢ to close at US88.14¢.

In New York, U.S. stocks also finished lower as better-than-expected data on housing starts and building permits failed to foster confidence among investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 107.46 points, or 1.3%, to close at 8,504.67.

The S&P 500 index fell 11.75 points, or 1.3%, to close at 911.97.

The Nasdaq composite index dipped 20.2 points, or 1.1%, to end at 1,796.18.

IE