Toronto stocks were pummeled Thursday, sunk by a sell-off in the energy sector and a market that has turned bearish after months of gains.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 235.05, or 2.25%, to 10,190.73.

Since the start of October, the benchmark index of the TSX has fallen by 821 points, or 7.5%.

Volume on the senior exchange was 301 million shares.

All the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with the energy sector falling a whopping 5.76%.

The November contract for light sweet crude ended down $1.38, or 2.2% at US$61.03 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

EnCana Corp. was down $4.80, or 7.79%, to $56.85 after the company dampened rumors that it was a takeover target for global energy giant Shell Oil Ltd.

Talisman Energy fell $4.75, or 8.83%, to $49.05 after agreeing to pay $2.5 billion in cash for Paladin Resources, a U.K. company with assets in the North Sea.

Imperial Oil was down $9.70 to $96.85. It was the first time Imperial shares had traded below $100 in four months. Imperial’s drop came as it reported record Q3 earnings.

Talisman Energy fell $4.75 to $49.05. It announced an agreement to pay $2.5 billion for Britain’s Paladin Resources.

Canadian Natural Resources fell $1.50, or 3.26%, to $44.50, while Suncor Energy dropped $3.50, or 6.57%, to $49.76.

Cott Corp. reported a quarterly loss of $1.8 million and recorded writedowns and restructuring charges of $25.7 million. Its shares fell $2.19, or 11.32%, to $17.16.

Gold stocks retreated by 3.8%. Placer Dome fell 84¢ to $18.21. Barrick Gold shed 81¢ to $29.92.

The Canadian dollar was off a quarter of a cent to US84.89¢.

The Bank of Canada said the economy is growing fast enough to indicate more interest rate hikes in the near terms.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished down 29.88 points, or 1.50%, to 1,962.94.

In New York, markets took a hit with disappointing corporate news from Pfizer and Ebay.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 133.19 points, or 1.28 %, to end at 10,280.94. The S&P500 index was down 17.94 points, or 1.50%, at 1,177.82. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 23.13 points, or 1.11%, at 2,068.11.

In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board said its index of leading indicators fell 0.7% for September, worse than economists’ expectations.