Canada's main stock index edged lower Wednesday following Tuesday's slide, while U.S. markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 59.31 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 20,193.33.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 84.50 points at 33,045.09.The S&P 500 Index was down 6.29 points at 3,991.05,while the Nasdaq Composite was up 14.77 points at 11,507.07.

The Canadian dollar traded for 73.84 cents US compared with 73.99 cents US on Tuesday.

The April crude contract was down US$2.41 at US$73.95 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was up 12 cents at US$2.30 per mm/BTU.

The April gold contract was down one dollar at US$1,841.50 an ounce and the March copper contract was down four cents at US$4.19 a pound.