Toronto stocks tumbled today, even as the Bank of Canada slashed the overnight rate by 50 basis points.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 67.57 points, or 0.50%, at 13,476.81.

Seven of the 10 major TSX groups lost today.

The financials group sank 0.69%, as the big banks finish up reporting on a grim first quarter.

Scotiabank shares lost 91¢, or 1.96%, to end at $45.59, after it announced earnings fell 18% to $835 million, or 82¢ a share, down from $1.02 billion, or $1.01 a share, a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Bank of Montreal shares lost $1.49, or 3.08% to end at $46.87, after it announced Q1 earnings tumbled 27% as it took capital market-related writedowns of $548 million before tax.

The materials group also sank, falling 1.84%.

Diversified metals also fell, dropping 1.21%, despite Eastern Platinum shares gaining 6.01%, or 22¢, to end at $3.88.

The gold sub-index lost 3.12%, as gold for April delivery dropped US$17.90 to end at US$966.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Goldcorp shares lost 66¢, or 1.53%, to end at $42.53. And Kinross Gold Corp. shares lost $1.08, or 4.17%, to end the session at $24.82.

Meanwhile the heavyweight energy group remained relatively flat, gaining 0.23%.

Crude oil for April delivery fell US$2.93, or 2.9%, to finish at US$99.52 a barrel on the Nymex.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 42.54 points, or 1.52%, to end the session at 2,752.03.

The Canadian dollar closed out at par with the greenback, down 0.01 of a cent from yesterday’s close.

It was a dismal day for New York stocks, but news of a deal to bail out bond insurer Ambac Inc. led an afternoon rally that recovered some of the day’s losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 45.10 points, or 0.37%, at 12,213.80 after being down more than 200 points earlier in the day.

The S&P 500 shed 4.59 points, or 0.34%, at 1,326.75.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.68 points, or 0.07%, to end the session at 2,260.28.