TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index slid hard late in the day Wednesday as bank and insurance shares fell on a US analyst's report and as profit-taking hit gold-mining shares despite higher gold prices.

Banks and insurers in Toronto tracked US financial stocks, which were hit by a late-day selloff after an influential analyst recommended selling Wells Fargo stock.

Toronto-Dominion Bank led all decliners, dropping 1.65 percent to C$64.20, followed by Manulife Financial , off 2.5 percent at C$21.80. Four other banks and insurers were among the top 10 heavyweight decliners.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 96.10 points, or 0.83 percent, at 11,442.02, its first significant drop in a week. All 10 main sectors fell.

The main index has traded without much conviction recently as investors have tried to reconcile mixed earnings reports and economic indicators from Canada and the United States, a stronger Canadian dollar, and commodity prices that have pushed higher. The TSX is up 53 percent since March. "One of the interesting things we discuss around here is the probability of a correction," said Philip Petursson, director of institutional equities, for MFC Global Investment Management.

"We're not trading at excessive levels, we're trading below the historical average on a forward P/E basis, so overall investors are becoming more comfortable with the fact that markets are trending in the right direction," Petursson said. "While we see perhaps a two percent dip every so often, it's bought back up within a day or two."

Ian Nakamoto, director of research at MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier, said corporate earnings in the United States have generally beaten expectations. Only a few Canadian earnings have trickled in so far, including Canadian National Rail and Husky Energy. The bulk come out in the next two weeks.

A key earnings report today will be from fertilizer producer Potash Corp. The market will be looking for insight on global potash demand and pricing.

Nakamoto said he expects the TSX to build on recent gains now that the Bank of Canada has repeated its commitment to keep interest rates low.