The main stock index of the Toronto Stock Exchange Fell on Tuesday, pulled lower by weakness in energy and metals producers.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 84.39 points, or 0.73%, at 11,539.63, after opening higher.

Bank stocks ended mixed after an early rise spurred by a 16% jump in Bank of Montreal’s (TSX: BMO) quarterly profit.

All Big Five bank stocks topped the market’s list of risers in the morning but those gains eroded as the market weighed BMO’s results against U.S. data that showed slower-than-expected growth.

Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) led all heavyweight decliners with a 1.4% drop to $57.37, but Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) rose 0.24% to $49.24. Bank of Montreal fell 0.8% to $53.14.

Mining stocks were a key drag even as the price of gold turned higher, but base metals prices were under pressure. Goldcorp (TSX:G) was off 2.2% at $45.84, and Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX) was down 1.47% to $45.57.

Oil and gas producers followed the price of crude lower, but Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) bucked the trend with a 1.4% gain to $71.95.

In other corporate news, Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX: MFC.TO) is expanding its Chinese operations with a deal to buy Fortis Bank’s 49% interest in China-based ABN AMRO TEDA Fund Management Co. for 105 million euros, or US$156 million. Its shares declined 28¢ to $18.50.

Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (TSX: KFS.TO) shares fell five cents or 2.96% to $1.64 after it said credit ratings agency A.M. Best had downgraded its issuer credit rating to Triple-C from Single-B. The financial strength ratings of several other insurers in which Kingsway has a major interest were also downgraded.

A B.C. judge has decided Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX: RCI-B.TO) cannot continue to claim it has “Canada’s Most Reliable” wireless network without qualification. Telus Corp. (TSX: T.TO) had argued that new networks put in place this month by it and Bell Canada had made it impossible for Rogers to claim superiority.
Rogers shares dipped 7¢ to $32.03 while Telus shares were down 19¢ to $34.61.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index added 1.2 points to 1,417.83.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.15 of a cent to US 94.56¢.

In New York, U.S. stocks fell on lacklustre economic data, but losses eased after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its expectations for growth in 2010.

Stocks fell early in the session as revised government data on gross domestic product showed the U.S. economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the third quarter.

However, selling was tempered after the Fed revised upward its growth expectation for 2010, while minutes of the FOMC’s most recent meeting showed officials are increasingly confident about a durable recovery for the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average 17.24 points, or 0.16%, to end at 10,433.71. The S&P 500 slipped just 0.59 of a point, or 0.05%, to 1,105.65. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 6.83 points, or 0.31%, to 2,169.18.

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