The Toronto Stock Exchange followed international stock markets lower on Monday, with declining commodity prices weighing down resource stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 109.76 points, or 1%, to close at 10,868.21. The benchmark index finished the month of August with a gain of 81 points, or less than 1%.

Monday’s decline came after exchanges abroad posted steeper losses, including a 6.7% plunge for Shanghai’s Composite Index, and a 1.9% drop in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng.

Energy stocks on the TSX tumbled 2.1% as oil futures finished sharply lower. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for October delivery lost US$2.78, or 3.8%, to end at US$69.96 a barrel.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. fell 2.7% to $62.71 and Nexen Inc. dropped 4.2% to close at $21.50.

Shares of EnCana Corp. finished at $57.06, down $1.39, or 2.4%.

The materials group also retreated by 2.2% on Monday as metals prices fell.

Gold for December delivery shed US$5.30, or 0.6%, to close at US$953.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Experiencing a steeper drop was the September copper contract, which dropped 11.5 cents, or 3.9%, to US$2.808 a pound.

The sub-gold index ended down 1.7%.

Shares of Teck Resources Ltd. dropped $1.13, or 4.1%, to $26.42, and Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. fell 2.1% to $62.79.

Kinross Gold Corp. retreated by 3.5% to end at $20.78.

Also lower was First Quantum Minerals Ltd., down 3.2% to $64.83, and Inmet Mining Ltd., down 2.8% to $47.46.

Financial stocks comprised the only group on the TSX to finish Monday’s session with gains, edging up 0.3%.

Shares of National Bank of Canada jumped $1.80, or 3%, to close at $61.45.

Bank of Montreal gained 1.1% to $53.00 and Power Corp. added 1.2% to $29.19.

Ending lower was Bank of Nova Scotia, down 1.2% to $45.86.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index also retreated on Monday, finishing down 13.47 points, or 1.1%, at 1,175.24.

The loonie gave back a quarter of a cent to close at US91.32¢.

Equities in New York also succumbed to Monday’s global retreat, but the main U.S. stock market indices finished the month of August with substantial gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 47.92 points, or 0.5%, to end at 9,496.28. The blue-chip index finished the month of August with a 3.5% gain.

The S&P 500 index declined 8.31 points, or 0.8%, to stand at 1,020.62, up 3.4% for the month.

The Nasdaq composite index dropped 19.71 points, or 1%, to rest at 2,009.06. It gained 1.5% during the month.

IE