Markets opened lower Wednesday as two major banks in the U.S. reported disappointing quarterly results and oil slipped below $64 U.S. a barrel. The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark, the S&P/TSX composite index, was down 108.51 points, or 1.03 per cent, to 10,406.81. The Canadian dollar rose to 90.54 cents U.S. from Tuesday's close of 90.33 cents U.S.. The price of oil fell to $63.93 U.S. a barrel in early trading from its previous close of $64.72 U.S. as data from the U.S. showed oil inventories rose 3.1 million barrels last week on low demand. Market consensus had been for the American Petroleum Institute numbers to fall to two million barrels. The price of gold was down to $945.90 U.S. an ounce from its previous close of $946.90 U.S.. Before markets opened, Statistics Canada said retail sales increased a more-than-expected 1.2 per cent in May to $34 billion, led by a 2.4 per cent increase in the automotive sector. Most economists has expected sales to rise by just 0.5 per cent in from the previous month. "This sturdy report marks a nice reversal from April's sour note. It also drums home the point that Canadian consumers are not nearly as stressed as their U.S. counterparts," said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets. Also Wednesday, Precision Drilling Trust reported a $35-million increase in second-quarter profit. The energy services company earned $57 million, or 22 cents per diluted unit, in the quarter, up from $22 million, or 16 cents per unit, in the same period in 2008. Precision units were up 11 cents to $5.57 in early trading. Meanwhile, Suncor Energy Inc. on Wednesday announced a second-quarter loss of $51 million, or about six cents per share on lower oil prices. The loss is down sharply from the $829-million profit, or 89 cents a share, posted in the second quarter of 2008. Suncor shares were down $1.36 to $34.84. In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 26.45 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8,889.57. The Nasdaq composite index was down 4.6 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 1,911.56, despite better-than-expected results from computer giant Apple Inc. released after markets closed Tuesday. Apple said a 12-per-cent gain in sales and a 15-per-cent jump in third-quarter profit led to a net income of $1.23 billion U.S., or $1.35 U.S. share, surpassing the $1.17 U.S. expected by analysts. Wells Fargo, the biggest U.S. home lender, said assets no longer collecting interest climbed 45 per cent to $18.3 billion compared to the first quarter. However, second-quarter net income soared 81 per cent to a record $3.17 billion. Profit for the quarter equalled 57 cents U.S. per diluted share, compared with $1.75 billion U.S., or 53 cents U.S. a share, a year earlier. Morgan Stanley reported a second-quarter loss of $1.26 billion U.S., or $1.10 U.S. per share, in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $1.1 billion U.S., or $1.02 U.S. a share, a year earlier. The loss, mainly due to repaying government loans, is the bank's third-straight quarterly loss. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will begin a second round of testimony before the Senate banking committee at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Bernanke is expected to outline how the Federal Reserve plans to keep the U.S. dollar from weakening further as the country continues to recover from the recession. Markets were mostly down overseas. London's FTSE 100 index fell 14.86 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 4,466.31 by midday Wednesday. Frankfurt, Germany's DAX was down 26.51 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 5,067.46, and the Paris CAC lost 28.49 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 3,274.40. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei stock average closed up 71.14 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 9,723.16. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 253.56 points, or 1.30 per cent, to 19,248.17. On Tuesday, the S&P/TSX ended the day down 25.39 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 10,515.32. The Dow advanced 67.79 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 8,915.94 and the Nasdaq composite index closed up 6.91 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 1,916.20.

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