Financial stocks help pull TSX lower

TORONTO — Financial stocks were a drag on Canada’s main stock index in morning trading Wednesday.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 86.40 points to 15,390.54 after 90 minutes of trading.

Most of the market’s subindexes were down, with Bank of Montreal, Home Capital Group and Sun Life Financial among the weak spots. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 13.12 points to 20,951.03, the S&P 500 index added 0.30 of a point to 2,398.72, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 4.24 points to 6,142.96.

The Canadian dollar was trading at 74.38 cents US, up from Tuesday’s average price of 74.13 cents US.

The loonie had been below 74 cents US prior to the Bank of Canada’s mid-morning announcement that it was holding its key interest rate at 0.5 per cent, as expected.