Toronto stocks kicked off the week with more losses as global economic woes continue to dampen the mood of nervous investors.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 260.51 points, or 2.88% to 8,795.45.

Leading the losses was the financial group, down 3.8%. Hefty losses in the group included Manulife Financial Corp., down 8.75% to $21.06 after CIBC World Markets cut its price target for the company’s shares.

Sun Life Financial plummeted 7.3% to $23.65.

Bank of Montreal shares shed 3.74% to $39.90 and Bank of Nova Scotia was down 3.6% to $36.10.

Energy companies shed more than 3% after oil futures closed at their lowest level since January 2007. December crude fell by US$2.09, or 3.7%, to close at US$54.95 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares of Petro-Canada plunged more than 7% to $23.95 to after the company announced it would delay its $25.3-billion Fort Hills oil sands mining project due to high costs and low oil prices.

EnCana Corp. fell almost 6% to $51.50 and Imperial Oil Ltd. slipped 4.2% to $35.41.

Gold for December delivery dipped US50¢ to finish at US$742 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The sub-gold index fell 3.6%.

The materials group dropped 3.5%, led by hefty drops for gold mining companies.

Goldcorp Inc. was down 7.5% to $24.25 and Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. plunged more than 8% to $36.79.

Bucking the trend, Teck Cominco Ltd.’s B-Class shares managed to gain 4.6% to $6.64.

The Canadian dollar gained a slight US0.15¢ from Friday’s close, to end the day at US81.75¢.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture index moved down 15.82 points, or 2%, to 785.79.

Investor nervousness was just as prevalent south of the border. In addition, news that Citigroup Inc. would slash 50,000 jobs set the tone for a tough day on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 223.73 points, or 2.6%, to 8,273.58.

The S&P 500 index shed 22.54 points, or 2.6%, to 850.75, and the Nasdaq composite index dipped 34.8 points, or 2.3%, to end at 1,482.05.

Following the news of the layoffs, shares of Citigroup dropped 6.7% to close at US$8.89 on the New York Stock Exchange.