Toronto stocks plummeted almost 500 points on Tuesday as commodities prices continued to fall.

The resource-heavy S&P/TSX composite index closed down 487.58 points, or 3.86%, at 12,147.06.

The benchmark index has lost 1,624 points in the past week and now sits at its lowest point since late January.

All 10 of the main TSX groups were lower, led by a drop of over 6% in the energy sector, reflecting another slide in oil prices.

The October crude contract in New York fell US$3.08 to US$103.26 a barrel on Tuesday.

In Toronto, Canadian Natural Resources fell 6.9% to $74.50. Canadian Oil Sands Trust fell 10.6% to $40.00.

The materials sector was down 8.2%. Inmet Mining slid 9.7% to $49.80. Potash Corp of Saskatchewan one of the biggest losers, was down 7.5% to $150.27.

The financial group fell 1.2% as worries about the ability of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers to raise capital fueled concern about the broader banking sector.

Bank of Montreal fell 1.4% to $47.82, while CIBC was down 1.4% at $63.50.

Small cap stocks suffered significantly greater losses than those on the big board. The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index plunged 150.37 points, or 8.49%, to end at 1,621.26.

The Canadian dollar slid half a cent from Monday’s close to end at US93.41¢.

In New York, U.S. stocks finished sharply lower as financial shares sold off on worries about Lehman Brothers.

The tumble in crude oil prices hit shares of energy companies.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 280.01 points, or 2.43%, to 11,230.73.

The S&P 500 fell 43.28 points, or 3.41%, to 1,224.51, its worst percentage decline since February 2007.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 59.95 points, or 2.64%, to 2,209.81.

Lehman Brothers shares plunged on speculation that an investment from South Korea’s government owned Korea Development Bank remained in doubt.