Although the day started out with promising gains, stocks in Toronto finished on Thursday with a tumble of more than 450 points as oil prices dropped and nervous investors shied away from turbulent financial stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 456.13 points, or 4.54%, at 9,600.18.

This was led by a 7.74% plunge for financial stocks, as unrelenting fears over the global credit crisis continued to take a toll. Within the group, Bank of Nova Scotia shares tumbled 7.15% to close at $41.31, after reports the bank may be looking to purchase National City Corp.

Manulife Financial shares also fell sharply, down $3.87, or 11.35%, to close at $30.24.

Energy stocks took a hit of their own, falling 5% on the TSX after crude oil for November delivery fell 2.2% to US$86.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. fell $4.19, or 7.35%, to close at $52.81 and Encana Corp. shares shed $2.31, or 4.4%, to finish at $49.89.

Lower oil prices helped push the Canadian dollar down more than a cent and a half, to close at US87.28¢.

The materials group fell 2.47%. This included a 3.17% drop for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. shares, which closed at $107, and a hefty 9.9% drop for shares of Teck Cominco Ltd., which finished the day at $19.10.

Gold futures plummeted US$20 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending the day at US$886.50. The sub-gold index fell 2.89%.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index shed 30.97 points, or 2.89%, to close at 1,041.67.

In New York, stocks experienced a late-day drop of their own. On the anniversary of the Dow Jones industrial average’s all time high, the index shed 678.91 points, to close at 8,579.19 — down 7.33% for the day, and a 40% drop from one year ago.

The S&P 500 index lost 75.02 points, or 7.62%, to close at 909.92. The Nasdaq index shed 95.21 points, or 5.47%, to close at 1,645.12.