The Toronto stock market plunged Tuesday as falling natural resources shares dragged down the broader market.

The S&P/TSX composite index plummeted 254.33 points, or 1.88%, to end at 13,242.20, after hitting a session low of 13,130.54.

With just three out of 10 main sectors pushing lower, the resources sectors accounted for the bulk of the day’s declines.

Oil settled down at US$119.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling as low as US$118.00 earlier.

In Toronto, the materials and energy sectors shed 8.6% and 5%, respectively.

Inmet Mining lost $5.25, or 8.5%, to $56.83, while Canadian Natural Resources was down $6.28 to $75.

Fertilizer producer Potash Corp fell $26.49 to $180.50, and rival Agrium dropped $6.99, or 7.8%, to $82.78.

The TSX financial sector rose 2.5% as investors opted to park their money in bank stocks. Bank of Montreal was up $2.17, or 4.6%, at $49.61, and Royal Bank of Canada gained $1.58, or 3.4%, to $48.30,

The only other TSX sector that fell was the utilities sector, which was off 0.4%.

The resource-heavy junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index plunged 95.67 points, or 4.27%, to finish at 2,142.44.

The Canadian dollar slumped 1.38¢ from Friday’s close to end at US95.98¢.

In New York, U.S. stocks soared after the Federal Reserve signaled that it is in no rush to raise interest rates and oil prices tumbled further.

The Fed, as expected, left benchmark lending rates unchanged at 2%.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared 331.21 points, or 2.94%, to 11,615.36, while the S&P 500 jumped 35.59 points, or 2.85%, at 1,284.60.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 64.27 points, or 2.81%, to 2,349.83.