TORONTO -- North American markets delivered a "dose of reality" to investors, with the S&P/TSX composite index and the Dow Jones industrials both pulling back more than 200 points.
The Toronto market lost 226.97 points to 14,893.57, led by declines in energy and financial stocks.
The big drop is the fifth straight decline for the Canadian market and takes the TSX below 15,000 for the first time since late June. However, the S&P/TSX composite is still up nearly nine per cent so far this year.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.41 of a cent to 90.03 cents US, pressured by lacklustre commodity prices.
The November crude oil contract dipped 27 cents to US$92.53 a barrel,while December gold bullion added $2.40 to US$1,221.90 an ounce and December copper fell two cents to US$3.03 a pound.
The sell-off could also be seen across Wall Street, with indexes ending the day with the deepest drop in two months. The Dow Jones industrials fell 264.26 points to 16,945.80, pressured by tech stocks, particularly Apple Inc. The Nasdaq plunged 88.47 points to 4,466.75 and the S&P 500 index lost 32.31 points to 1,965.99.
