Toronto stocks fell sharply again on Wednesday, led by drops in financial and resource issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index plunged 179.19 points, or 1.33%, to 13,280.58.

Eight of the 10 TSX main groups fell.

The materials sector led the way down, giving up 2.3%, as investors worried that a potential slowdown in global growth will send commodity prices lower.

Potash Corp of Saskatchewan was down $3.28, or 3%, at $104.70 while Barrick Gold fell 34¢, or 0.8%, to $41.19.

The energy sector was down 1.7%, while the price of oil was down 74¢ at US$97.29 after hitting an all-time high of US$99.29 a barrel.

Petro-Canada was down 44¢, or 0.9%, at $51.39 and Suncor Energy fell $3.66, or 3.6%, to $99.34.

Continuing concerns that financial institutions will be hit by more writedowns helped shave 1.4% off the sector, with Royal Bank of Canada down $1.24, or 2.5%, at $48.91 and National Bank of Canada dipping $2.06, or 4%, to $49.40.


The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 69.95 points, or 2.44%, to 2,800.96.

The Canadian dollar closed down 0.72 of a cent to US$1.0125, after going as low as US$1.0075, on growing speculation about possible interest rate cuts.

The Bank of Canada injected $600 million into capital markets today following a similar move Tuesday to the tune of $815 million. The central bank has periodically done this since the global credit crunch began to emerge in early August.

In New York, U.S. stocks plummeted on concerns that trouble in the housing market could worsen, unnerving investors as they headed into the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 211.10 points, or 1.62%, to end at 12,799.04, its lowest close since April.

The S&P 500 was down 22.93 points, or 1.59%, at 1,416.77 — the drop pushed the S&P into negative territory for 2007.

The Nasdaq composite index was down 34.66 points, or 1.33%, to close at 2,562.15.