Greek debt fears boost U.S. dollar

A higher U.S. dollar pulled oil prices and the Toronto Stock Exchange lower for a second day Wednesday, while gold rebounded.

Investors worried about the possibility of the Greekdebt crisis spreading to other European countries and took profits after a run-up in stocks after better-than-expected corporate earnings. Traders bought the U.S. dollar, and that dragged the dollar-priced commodities lower.

The S&P/TSX composite indexfinished down 155.73points at11875.13.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost59.94points to close at 10866.83. The Nasdaq composite index ended 21.96points lower at 2402.29 while the S&P 500 index moved down 7.73 points to 1,165.87.

June oil ended the session down $2.77 at $79.97 US a barrel after a report from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. crude supplies rose more than expected last week.

The Canadian dollar's official closewas down 0.45 cents to 97.11 cents US. Thatfollowed a 1.39-cent slide on Tuesday.

The euro hit a 14-month low, fallingto $1.2791 US.

June gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange finished upby $6.00 to $1,174.60 US an ounce.

"Yesterday, there were rumours that Spain would soon request an aid package, subsequently denied, and today, fear remains high," Scotia Capital said in a commentary.

"Mass protests and strike action in Greece [are] doing sentiment in global markets no favour," said Tim Hughes, head of sales trading at IG Index in London.