North American stock markets, loonie and crude fall in morning trading

TORONTO — Stock markets in North America and the Canadian dollar have taken a step down this morning.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 88.8 points to 14,170.07 after two hours of trading.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 116.87 points at 17,832.50, the broader S&P 500 composite index declined 17.38 points to 2,085.57 and the Nasdaq composite dropped 50.59 points to 4,811.97.

The TSX decline follows a 194.33-point gain on Monday while U.S. stock markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday.

The Canadian dollar was at 77.19 cents US, down 0.59 of a cent from Monday's close as oil and gas prices fell.

The August crude contract was down US$2.23 at US$48.76 per barrel and August natural gas was down nearly 21 cents at US$2.78 per mmBTU.

August gold rose US$7.70 to US$1,344.40 an ounce and September copper contracts fell 5.4 cents to US$2.16 a pound.

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