With gold and oil down, and concerns rising over how the first quarter earnings season is going to progress, it is little wonder that the S&P/TSX composite index stumbled out of the starting gate on Tuesday morning.

The benchmark index fell 87 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 13,658. The Big Banks were down moderately after the International Monetary Fund announced that total credit losses could top $945-billion (U.S.). Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.8 per cent. Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. fell 0.8 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively.

As well, Research In Motion Ltd. fell 0.8 per cent. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. was one of the few winners, rising 0.8 per cent.

In the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 72 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 12,540. There, 27 of the 30 stocks in the blue chip index fell. Citigroup Inc. fell 1.8 per cent, and Verizon Communications Inc. JPMorgan Chase & Co. each fell 1.7 per cent. Alcoa Inc., which put investors on edge when it released disappointing earnings after the market's close on Monday, got off lightly: The stock fell just over 1 per cent.

Gold fell to $921.40 an ounce in New York, down $5.40. Crude oil retreated slightly to $108.77 a barrel, down 32 cents.