Toronto stocks plummeted Tuesday dragged down by free-falling commodity prices and by disappointing earnings results.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 400.17 points, or 2.8%, at 14,068.16.

The index hit a record peak of 14,646.82 last week, but has retreated 3.8% in the last three sessions.

Today’s slide was the benchmark index’s biggest one-day point drop since the end of the tech bubble in 2001.

All 10 of TSX main sectors declined, led by energy and materials.

The energy sector plunged 3.9%, its steepest drop since January, as the price of London Brent crude dipped more than 2% to $75.08 a barrel on expectations that U.S. fuel stocks are growing.

EnCana fell $3.02, or 4.6%, to $62.72, while Canadian Natural Resources tumbled $4.22, or 5.6%, to $71.78.

The TSX materials sector forfeited 3.1%, its biggest drop in five months.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan lost $4.41, or 5.1%, at $82. Teck Cominco fell $2.03, or 3.9%, at $49.97.

The industrials sector was weighed down by disappointing results from CN and CP.

Canadian National Railway stumbled $3.32, or 5.5%, to $57.03 after lowering its full-year outlook after market close on Monday.

Canadian Pacific Railway slid $3.10, or 3.6%, to $83.60 after it said on Tuesday its quarterly profit dropped more than 30%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 69.68 points, or 2.1%, to 3,253.08.

The Canadian dollar shot above US96¢ following the release of a strong May retail sales report.

The loonie gained 0.85 of a cent to close at US96.36¢. The dollar has not closed above that amount since Feb. 23, 1977.

In New York, U.S. stocks also tumbled on disappointing earnings results and worries over the health of the U.S. housing market with the three major indexes posting their worst single day performance since March 13.

Financial shares led decliners on the S&P 500 index, with Countrywide Financial suffering its biggest decline since October 2004 after revealing its U.S. mortgage lending problems extend beyond its subprime business.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 226.47 points, or 1.62%, at 13,716.95. The S&P 500 was down 30.53 points, or 1.98%, at 1,511.04.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 50.72 points, or 1.89%, at 2,639.86.