Stock markets in North America tumbled sharply as investors bailed out of equities over global recession fears.

Following the opening bell, the Dow was off more than 411 points, or 4.7%, to 8279.87, hurt by declines in all 30 of its components.

The S&P 500 fell 5% to 862.33. The Nasdaq composite index was off 5.7% at 1512.42.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index quickly dropped more than 600 points, or more than 7%, within a minute of the opening of trading.

The retreat on Canadian and U.S. markets followed a wave of profit warnings and weak economic data sent stocks plunging in Asia and Europe.


Overnight in Asia, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 9.6% in Tokyo as Japanese traders got their first chance to react to Sony’s profit warning.

European shares fell sharply following Asia’s heavy losses. London’s FTSE was down more than 8%, while German and French markets lost 10%.

Profit warnings came from international firms like Samsung Electronics, Air France-KLM and PSA Peugeot Citroen.

In Canadian earnings news, Norbord Inc. posted a third-quarter loss of US$18 million as sales declined 12% from a year earlier to US$256 million.

The Canadian dollar continued its skid. The loonie opened down 0.99 of a cent to US78.65¢.

On today’s U.S. economic calendar, data on existing home sales for September is due for release shortly after the open.

In commodities news, oil prices fell below US$64 a barrel, even as OPEC decided to cut oil production by 1.5 million barrels a day to rebalance global oil markets.

Toronto stocks closed higher Thursday as bargain-hunting sparked a late-day rally after a big drop earlier in the session.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 94.47 points, or 1.02%, at 9,331.35, after a volatile session that spanned nearly 580 points from trough to peak.


The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 42.63 points, or 4.73%, to finish at 858.00.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 8691.25, up 172.04 points, or 2%. It rebounded more than 445 points. The broader S&P 500 closed at 908.12, up 11.34 points, or 1.3%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 11.84 points, or 0.73%, to close at 1,603.91.

IE