The Toronto Stock Exchange had another roller coaster day on Wednesday, shedding as much as 200 points during the day’s trading, but recovering to close down just 0.37%.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 8,296.96, lower by 30.85 points, as losses by commodity stocks were somewhat offset by financial company gains.

The materials group shed more than 4%, weighed down by mining companies as gold futures moved lower. Gold for February delivery ended down US$12.80, or 1.6%, at US$770.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The sub-gold index dipped 3.7%.

Goldcorp Inc. shares dropped 5.85% to close at $29.28 and Kinross Gold Corp. shares moved lower by 3.9% to $17.95.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. shed 5.3% to $38.40 and Barrick Gold Corp. tumbled 4% to $33.25.

Oil futures fell for a fourth consecutive session, ending the day at the lowest level since February 2005. Crude for January delivery finished down US17¢, or 0.4%, at US$46.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The drop came even after the U.S. Department of Energy said oil inventories fell by 400,000 barrels in the latest week. Crude watchers had expected crude stockpiles to rise by two million barrels.

Energy companies on the TSX moved lower by 1.9%.

This included a 2% drop for shares of EnCana Corp., which closed at $52.88 and a 1.3% dip for Petro-Canada, which ended at $26.95.

Nexen Inc. closed down $2.23, or 9.3% to $21.65, after reports that Total SA’s plans to takeover the company had been abandoned. The takeover speculation had driven the stock up more than 9% on Tuesday.

Other oil players managed gains, including Imperial Oil Ltd., which rose 4.4% to $39.98.

Enbridge Inc. shares rose 2.5% to $37.43 after the company announced that it expects its 2009 earnings to beat analyst estimates.

The financial sector was the bright spot on Toronto’s market during Wednesday’s trading, gaining 1.9%.

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. soared 7.4% to $24.84.

Toronto-Dominion Bank’s stock gained 3.4% to $42.50 and Bank of Nova Scotia’s stock got a 3.5% boost to $33.50.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. slashed its earnings and revenue targets for the fiscal third quarter, and announced a bid to acquire data encryption specialist Certicom Corp. of Toronto. RIM shares gained $2.44, or 5.25%, on the news, ending the day at $48.90.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index moved lower by 19 points, or 2.6%, to close at 712.08.

The Canadian dollar continued its descent against the American greenback, finishing the day at US79.78¢, down US0.16¢.

In New York, U.S. stock markets experienced similar dramatic volatility on Wednesday, with a late-day surge leading to gains for all three main indexes.

After witnessing triple-digit swings in both directions, the Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 172.6 points, or 2.05%, at 8,591.69.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 42.58 points, or 2.94%, to close at 1,492.38. The S&P 500 index gained 21.93 points, or 2.6%, to finish at 870.74.

IE