Toronto stock market slips as energy prices lose ground, metals stumble

A woman looks at an electronic stock indicator of a securities firm in Tokyo on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015. (AP / Shizuo Kambayashi)

TORONTO -- The Toronto stock market ended negative as oil and metals prices slumped amid further indications of slowing economic growth in China.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 79.72 points at 13,758.38, with the metals and mining and energy sectors leading the way lower.

The commodity-sensitive Canadian dollar was also sharply lower, down 0.64 of a U.S. cent at 76.81 cents US.

Meanwhile, the November contract for benchmark crude oil was down $1.37 at US$45.89 a barrel, while November natural gas added a penny to US$2.44 per thousand cubic feet.

Gold logged its steepest single day loss in more than two weeks, with the December bullion contract pulling back $10.30 to US$1,172.80 an ounce, while December copper gave back four cents to US$2.37 a pound.

In New York, indexes were slightly higher, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising 14.57 points to 17,230.54, the S&P 500 inching up 0.55 points to 2,033.66 and the Nasdaq moving ahead 18.78 points to 4,905.47.