Toronto stocks fell sharply Thursday dragged down by weakness in the heavyweight financials group and lower oil prices. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 109.42 points, or 1.04%, at 10,391.30.

All of the TSX’s 10 subgroups ended lower, led by an 1.43% drop in the financial services sector.

The financial group retreated on concerns about U.S. consumer spending after several profit warnings from retailers including, earlier this week, Wal-Mart Inc. which lowered its earnings outlook for the year, citing high oil prices.

Royal Bank shares fell $1.17 to $75.53, TD Bank shares slid was 64¢ to $55.40.

Bank of Nova Scotia dropped 61¢ to $41.30 on a newspaper report that the bank’s proposed investment in the Bank of Punjab has fallen apart. Scotiabank had announced plans in February to buy a minority stake in the Indian bank

Shares of GMP Capital Inc. charged ahead $3.60, or 12.57%, to $32.25, after the brokerage holding company said it had unanimous approval from its board to convert itself into an income trust.

The energy group was off 0.84% as crude oil prices closed up 10¢ at US$63.35 a barrel, steadying somewhat after the sharp pullback in the previous session.

EnCana Corp. fell $1.59, or 3.07%, to $50.16, while Canadian Natural Resources was off 75¢, or 1.44%, at $51.50.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index added 2.49 point, or 0.13%, to finish at 1,891.32.

On Wall Steet, U.S. stocks closed broadly lower on with further warnings of slowing spending at retailers.

The broad S&P 500 Index dropped 1.22 points, or 0.10%, to 1,219.02. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 9.07 points, or 0.42%, to 2,136.08.

The Dow Jones industrial average managed a gain of 4.22 points, or 0.04%, to 10,554.93. However, the bulk of its gain came from one stock, tobacco company Altria Group Inc, which surged 3.7% after investors got word of a possibly favorable legal development.