Canadian stocks edged lower after two days of mild gains. The S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 17.08 points, or 0.15 percent, at 11,344.11 on Wednesday. The index has dropped 5 percent since Jan. 6 on concern China will withdraw monetary stimulus and the U.S. will place limits on the size and trading activities of financial companies. Gold for February delivery dropped 1.18 percent to 1,086.5 U.S. dollars an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. Raw materials account for half of the Canadian export revenue. Yamana Gold declined 1.51 percent and Lundin Mining Corp. fell 5.27 percent. Oil for March delivery slipped 1.31 percent at 73.73 U.S. dollars a barrel on Wednesday. Suncor Energy Inc. decreased 0.91 percent while Talisman Energy Inc. rose 0.39 percent. Financials are still strong. Bank of Montreal rose 1.16 percent. National Bank of Canada gained 1.32 percent. Royal Bank of Canada increased 0.28 percent. Copper lost 3.43 percent, leading Teck Resources Ltd., Canada's largest base- metals producer, fell 4.26 percent. The U.S. Commerce Department reported sales of new homes slumped 7.6 percent to an annual pace of 342,000 in December, the second straight monthly decline. America is the largest trade partner of Canada. The U.S. Fed kept its benchmark interest rate at a range of zero to 0.25 percent on Wednesday. Canadian dollar fell further against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday as crude oil dropped and stocks fluctuated. One U.S dollar was purchasing 1.0639 Canadian dollars at 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT), comparing with one U.S. dollar buying 1.0624 Canadian dollars on Tuesday. 