India, July 29 -- Canadian stocks slumped on Wednesday, partially offsetting the gains from the three previous sessions as investors refrained from risky moves after the U.S. and Iran ended a four-day pause on mutual attacks and parsed the interest rate decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

After opening below yesterday's close, today the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index traded firmly negative throughout the morning. The index staged a recovery attempt in afternoon trading but pulled back sharply late in the day before settling at 35,333.78, down by 415.92 points (or 1.16%).

Two of the 11 sectors posted gains today, with the energy sector leading the pack.

A sudden flare-up of the conflict between the U.S. and Iran in the Middle East af...