North American stock markets tumbled on Tuesday amid disappointing corporate earnings reports and a plunge in commodity prices.

The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 264.8 points, or 2.73% to close at 9,424.00.

Stocks of energy companies fell sharply as oil futures closed below US$60. Crude for December delivery fell US$3.08, or 4.9%, to close at US$59.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The energy group fell 4.5%, led by a 7% drop for shares of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., which closed at $53.46.

Also lower were EnCana Corp., down 3.54% to $56.94, and Nexen Inc., down 7.85% to $17.95.

A widespread pullback in metals prices included a drop of US$13.30, or 1.8% on gold for December delivery, which finished at US$733.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The sub-gold index dropped 5.3%.

The weaker price of gold sent the materials group down 4.9%, led by a 6.3% drop for shares of Goldcorp Inc., which finished at $25.81 and a 4.9% decline for Barrick Gold Corp., which ended at $28.48.

In addition, Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. shares fell 5.46% to $39.47 and Teck Cominco Ltd.’s B-class shares plunged $2.20, or 20.1%, to $8.75.

Cameco Corp. shares took a 5.8% hit after it reported third quarter profit of $142 million—a 46% plunge from the same period last year due to lower earnings in its uranium business. Cameco shares closed at $18.60.

The financials group slid 2%, including a 6.65% drop for shares of Sun Life Financial Inc., which closed at $27.24.

The Bank of Nova Scotia fell 1.86% to $38.53 and Toronto-Dominion Bank slid 2% to $55.86.

Units of CI Financial Income Fund fell 2% to $15.45 after it reported net income of $118.1 million in the third quarter, down 18% from the same quarter last year.

Shares of Power Financial Corp. slipped 1.1% to $30.50 after reporting flat third-quarter earnings.

Rona Inc. reported third quarter profit of $53.4 million, down 10% from the same period last year, as sales at stores open a year or more declined 2.3%. Still, the company’s stock gained 4.9% to $11.70.

Air Canada parent ACE Aviation’s A-class stock tumbled 13.7% to $3.85 after the company reported a loss of $135-million for the third quarter, thanks to high fuel prices. That reversed a $224-million profit in the same quarter of 2007.

The S&P/TSX Venture index shed 41.69 points, or 4.56% to close at 872.33.

The Canadian dollar dipped 0.30 of a cent at US83.28¢ in trading on international markets. The Bank of Canada was closed for Remembrance Day.

In New York, U.S. stocks suffered a similar fate to those in Canada, as American earnings reports illustrated weakening consumer spending.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 176.58 points, or 2%, to end at 8,693.96. This included another steep decline for shares of General Motors, which fell 13.1% to $2.92 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The S&P 500 index dipped 20.26 points, or 2.2% to end the day at 898.95. The Nasdaq composite index fell 35.84 points, or 2.2%, to 1,580.9.