TSX slips slightly

The S&P/TSX index over the past month

The key Toronto stock index lost a small amount of ground on Wednesday, after being down about 250 points in earlier trading.

The S&P/TSX composite index descended to within 80 points of the 8,000 level before rebounding to close down 30.85 points at 8,296.96.

The index has fallen almost 1,000 points this week, and has given back almost all the gains it made last week, when it rose more than 13 per cent to close at 9,270.

The diversified metals and materials sub-indexes dropped the most Wednesday. Financial services, which frequently drove the declines in recent weeks, rose 1.7 per cent, led by the banks.

Nexen, which ran up Tuesday on speculation that it would be the target of a takeover bid from French company Total, fell back as no bid materialized. It dropped $2.63 to $21.65.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial index added 172.60 points to 8,591.69.

Oil prices slid 17 cents to $46.79 US a barrel. The Canadian dollar fell 0.16 cents to 79.78 cents US.