Canadian stocks plunged again on Wednesday, pulled down by more erosion in the price of oil and other commodities.

The S&P/TSX composite index plummeted 501.43 points, or 5.3% to close at 8,922.57.

Oil futures took a nosedive after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reduced its outlook on energy demand and chopped its 2009 forecast for oil prices by 43% to US$63.50 per barrel, due to the economic downturn. December crude dropped US$3.17, or 5.3%, to close at US$56.16 per barrel on Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

This sent the energy group on the TSX down 7.5%, led by an 11.9% plunge for shares of Suncor Energy Inc., which closed at $23.38 and a 10.3% drop for shares of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., which ended at $47.95.

Other declines in the heavyweight energy group included EnCana Corp., down 6.15% to $53.44 and Talisman Energy Inc., down 8.9% to $10.11.

Gold for December delivery dropped US$14.50, or 2%, to close at US$718.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The sub-gold index dropped 8.4%.

Other metals prices declined, too, leading to big losses for stocks of mining companies in Toronto. The materials group dropped 9.9%.

Shares of Teck Cominco Ltd. shed more than one-fifth of their value for a second consecutive day. The company’s B-class shares dropped 24.2% to close at $6.63 after the company announced it may sell its gold assets in order to repay a hefty debt load from its takeover of Fording Canadian Coal Trust.

Kinross Gold Corp. shares plummeted 12.6% to $14.18, Barrick Gold Corp. was down 10.1% to $25.60 and Goldcorp Inc. fell 7.2% to $23.95.

Fertilizer companies also took a hit, including an 11.2% drop for Potash Corp., which closed at $86.25 and a 7.3% dip for Agrium Inc., which ended at $40.

The financials group lost 4.4%, including a drop of 8% for Sun Life Financial Inc., which finished the day at $25.06.

ING Canada Inc. shares managed to gain 1.9% to close at $32.44 after it reported third-quarter profit of $57 million, down from $92 million in the same quarter last year.

Manulife Financial plunged 9.3% to $23.35 and Royal Bank of Canada dipped 5.5% to $43.91.

The Canadian dollar plunged 2.77¢ from Monday’s close before Tuesday’s Remembrance Day holiday to end at US80.80¢.

Junior companies on the S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 49.83 points, or 5.7% to end at 822.50.

In the United States, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s announcement of the next stage of the financial market rescue plan failed to foster market confidence.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 411.3 points, or 4.7% to end at 8,282.66. The S&P 500 index slid 46.65 points, or 5.2%, to end at 852.3. The Nasdaq composite index shed 81.69 points, or 5.2%, to close at 1,499.2.

IE