oronto stocks tumbled Thursday, after hitting an all-time high during the previous session, as the price of gold and oil fell and investors locked in profits.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 173.66 points, or 1.39%, to 12,313.66. At its worst level of the day, the index was off 190 points.


All 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with the energy index off 2.02%.

Oil prices, which hit an all-time high on Wednesday, shed 22¢ to US$71.95 a barrel.

EnCana Corp. fell 73¢, or 1.26%, to $57.42.

The gold index, a sub-set of materials, plummeted 5.05%., as bullion prices ended down $12.90 at US$623.10 an ounce, off a record high, as commodity traders put the brakes on.

Bema Gold Corp. fell 31¢, or 5.14%, to $5.72.

Statistics Canada reported the inflation rate for March remained at an annual rate of 2.2%

The Canadian dollar declined 0.3 of a cent to US87.74¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index fell 64.04, or 2.05%, to 3,053.56.

In New York, markets were mixed on corporate news.

The Dow industrials ended up 64.12 points at 11,342.89, its best close since January 2000. The Nasdaq Composite fell 8.33 points to 2,362.55. The S&P 500 Index was up 1.53 points at 1,311.46.

The Dow was given a big boost by GM, which reported a much smaller quarterly loss and higher sales. Its shares gained $2.06, or 10%, to US$22.63.