Toronto stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday in a broad retreat led by resource shares, which tumbled along with commodity prices.

On Wall Street is was a different story as the Dow Jones industrial average rallied to an all-time high.

The S&P/TSX composite index plunged 261.26 points, or 2.2%, to end at 11,526.13, its biggest one-day loss since June.

All of the 10 TSX main groups were down.

The energy sector led the slide, falling 5.2%, as the price of crude oil slumped ahead of data due Wednesday that is expected to show another increase in U.S. distillate and gasoline stocks.

November crude fell $2.35, or 3.9%, to US$58.68 a barrel.

EnCana Corp. dropped $2.90, or 5.6%, to $49.09. Petro-Canada was down $2.70, or 6.1%, at $41.91 hit also by news that the estimated cost of retooling its refinery in Edmonton, Alberta, had jumped by 25%.

Gold mining issues dropped 6.8% as bullion slid in sympathy with oil. December gold slid 3.61%, or $21.80, to US$581.50 per ounce.

Barrick Gold was down $2.50 to $32.10; Goldcorp fell $1.82 to $24.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index followed the its bigger brother lower, dropping 90.67 points, or 3.7%, to close at 2,363.14.

The Canadian dollar shed almost half a cent to US89.20¢.

In New York, the Dow finished at an all-time closing high on Tuesday, surpassing the previous record set in 2000, as investors bet that sliding crude oil prices will stimulate consumer spending and lift corporate profits even as the economy slows.

The Dow rose 56.99 points, or 0.49%, to end at 11,727.18. The S&P 500 was up 2.79 points, or 0.21%, to finish at 1,334.11. The Nasdaq composite index was up 6.05 points, or 0.27%, to close at 2,243.65.