The Toronto stock market ended lower on Tuesday as a renewed sense of caution swept over traders concerned about the global economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 24.15 points to 12,422.71, following a slate of new reasons to be cautious, including signs of slower economic growth. The TSX Venture Exchange was up 5.48 points to 1,322.64.
The 91原创 dollar was up 0.07 to US102.61垄.
The TSX information technology sector led gainers, up 1.21%, with Research In Motion Ltd. shares gaining 17垄 to $7.24.
RIM signed a patent licensing agreement Tuesday with Microsoft Corp. to use the software company's latest file system technology on its smartphones, making the handling of large files easier.
Metals and mining stocks were the biggest decliners, off 1.2%, as Teck Resources shares fell 52垄 to $31.26.
"I think it's a little bit of a pause after what's been a very strong run in equity markets," said Gary Aitken, chief investment officer at Bissett Investment Management. "You saw that last week with a lot more willingness for investors to be taking risk. We've had a big run markets don't go straight up so I think some sort of pause is inevitable."
Commodity prices were lower with Oc-tober crude ending the session off $1.33 to US$95.29 a barrel.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials rose 11.54 points to 13,564.64 and the Nasdaq composite index backed off 0.87 of a point to 3,177.80.
Top of mind are concerns about the global economy and a delay in Spain's acceptance of a financial aid package. The country's markets have improved in recent weeks on expectations that the government will get some form of rescue loan from the 16 other eurozone countries. But, Madrid has not made any formal request yet, likely wary of the conditions that would come attached.
The delay pushed the country's bond yields sharply higher on Monday, suggesting an increase in investor concern about the government's finances. The yields eased back somewhat on Tuesday after a bond auction was well-received. The sale of 12-and 18-month debt saw strong demand and resulted in lower interest rates than in the previous such auctions.
A report from TD Bank suggested the 91原创 economy has hit a "soft patch" and growth will come in below 2% for the rest of the year. The new forecast estimates growth has slowed to about 1% during the current third quarter that ends on Sept. 30, making it the weakest three months of 2012.
