Stocks on Bay Street sank Tuesday -- led by a drop in mining stocks -- as advances in commodity stocks turned into declines and worries over the economic environment once again took center stage.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved down 264.80 points to 9,424.80.
In corporate news - Rona Inc. reported a 10 percent decline in summer-quarter profit to $53.4 million as sales at stores open a year or more declined 2.3 percent.
High fuel costs and a weaker Canadian dollar dropped Air Canada parent ACE Aviation to a $135-million third-quarter loss. That reversed a $224-million profit in the summer quarter of last year.
Power Financial Corp. said on Tuesday its third-quarter profit was unchanged and that it raised its quarterly dividend. Power Financial, a unit of Power Corp of Canada, said net income was $457 million, or 62 cents a share, in the three months ended September 30. That was identical to its profit in the year-before quarter.
Cameco Corp. says it's looking to cut costs after a 46 percent slump in adjusted third-quarter profit.
On the economic front -- a report from the Bank of Montreal said Canada's resource boom is over and won't return for at least another year, mostly because of the U.S. recession and weakening demand from countries like China.
The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, was trading at 82.93 cents US, down 0.83 cent from Monday's close.
BAYSTREET
Only one of the TSX sub-groups traded higher today -- consumer staples issues were ahaead 0.24 percent.
On the downside -- mining stocks were down 10.66 percent; gold issues shed 5.33 and energy stocks fell 4.53 percent.
Gold futures dropped nearly $14 an ounce, with the contract for December delivery falling $13.7 to end at $732.8 US an ounce.
Meanwhile, the TSX Venture Exchange moved down 41.69 points to 872.33 and NASDAQ Canada stocks fell 9.80 points to 465.49.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks on Tuesday fell for a second day after quarterly results and outlooks from luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. and coffee retailer Starbucks Corp. illustrated softening consumer spending.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, lost 176.58 points, or 2 percent, at 8693.96. The S&P 500 fell 20.26 points, or 2.2 percent, to 898.95. The Nasdaq gave back 35.84 points, or 2.2 percent, to 1580.90.
General Motors has lately shown signs that it needs assistance. Late Monday, the carmaker said it would lay off 1,900 factory workers. The announcement followed GM's report of a $2.5 billion quarterly loss on Friday and a Deutsche Bank analyst report targeting GM's stock value at $0.
As for earnings, following Monday's close, coffee purveyor Starbucks reported a decline in profit and fell short of analysts' estimates. The company also said it would not provide earnings guidance for the upcoming year.
Homebuilder Toll Brothers announced that its building revenue suffered a 41 percent decline for the latest quarter.
Credit card company American Express got the go-ahead from the Federal Reserve to turn itself into a bank holding company. Such a move would allow American Express to build a deposit base and secure Fed funding. Shares slipped 6.6 percent to $22.40.
Crude-oil futures fell sharply on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as concern about the global economy fed thoughts of reduced demand. Crude for December delivery fell $3.08, or 4.9 percent, to close at $59.33 US a barrel.
