Toronto stocks finished lower for the fifth straight session Tuesday. The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 4.63 points lower to close at 8,604.99.

The health-care index fell 2.4% to lead all declining sectors, while information technology shares shed 0.7%.

Biovail fell 82¢ to $25.85, while Angiotech Pharmaceuticals dropped $2.80 to $33.60.

Financial stocks finished flat despite a profit from Bank of Montreal that topped estimates..

Bank of Montreal, which suffered the steepest fall among the Big Six banks during the session, slid $1.16 to $54.09, while CIBC fell 60¢ to $65.05.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index edged down 1.39 points.

U.S. stocks fell for the fifth straight session as investors worried over a dip in consumer confidence.

The U.S. Conference Board said U.S. consumer confidence fell unexpectedly hard in February as Americans grew disenchanted with the economy, mainly because of the lack of new jobs.

The Nasdaq composite index closed at its lowest point this calendar year and blue-chip stocks closed at three-week lows.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 43.25 points at 10,566.37. The S&P 500 closed down 1.90 points at 1,139.09. The tech-heavy fell 2.08 points to 2,005.44.

The soft U.S consumer confidence report lifted the Canadian dollar to US75.24¢, up from US74.81¢ at Monday’s close.