North American stocks tumbled Thursday as geopolitical tensions and negative corporate earnings warnings led to selloffs in both Toronto and New York markets.

The S&P/TSX composite index dove 169.13, or 1.44%, to 11.601.94.

Nine of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with just the utilities sector spared. It was up 0.14% for the day.

World oil prices spiked as hostilities erupted in the Middle East. The benchmark August contract for light, sweet crude ended up $1.75 at US$76.70.

Nevertheless, the energy sector dropped 0.73%.

EnCana Corp. fell back $1.78, or 3.03%, to $56.91.

The materials sector was down 2.66% despite a rise in gold price.

The August contract for bullion rose $3.20 at US$654.40 an ounce.

Goldcorp. Inc. lost 936¢, or 2.69%, to $33.60.

The financials sector dropped 1.53%.

TD Bank dropped back 81¢, or 1.39%, to $57.54.

The Canadian dollar moved up 0.23 of a cent to close at US88.39¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index fell back 29.33, or 1.10%, to 2,630.37.

In New York, higher oil prices and analysts’ downgrades had investors running for the door.

The Dow industrials dropped 166.89 points, or 1.5% to 10,846.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 36.13 points, or 1.7% to 2,054.11, dropping to its lowest level since October. The S&P 500 Index dropped 16.31 points, or 1.3% to 1,242.29, putting the index into negative territory for 2006.