The Toronto Stock Exchange experienced a third consecutive day of declines on Wednesday, shedding more than 2% on weakness among energy and financial stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 202.75 points, or 2.4%, to close at 8,175.95.

The financials group tumbled 3.6%.

CIBC shares fell 4.4% to $41.69.

Bank of Nova Scotia shares dipped 2.8% to $26.25.

Manulife Financial Corp.’s stock continued to slide, falling 3.8% to $15.08.

Energy stocks shed 3.6% as oil futures continued to fall. Crude for March delivery ended down 31 cents, or 0.9%, at US$34.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares of EnCana fell 3.7% to $49.40.

Petro-Canada dipped 4.4% to $26.11.

For a second consecutive day, the materials group was the only major TSX group to advance, rising 0.9%.

Gold for February delivery ended up US$10.70, or 1.1%, at US$977.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The sub-gold index rose 0.9%.

The Venture composite fell 3.34 points, or 0.4%, to close at 915.82.

The Canadian dollar advanced against the greenback, gaining US0.35¢ to close at US79.48¢.

The main indexes in New York were largely unchanged on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.03 points, or 0.04% to end at 7,555.63.

The S&P 500 retreated less than one point to end at 788.42.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.69 points to 1,467.97.

IE