Stocks in Toronto fell more than 1% on Tuesday as slumping oil prices weighed on energy shares and heavyweight banking and mining stocks also lost ground.
The S&P/TSX Composite swooned 224.03 points, or 1.5%, to greet noon at 14,373.11
The Canadian dollar darted 0.75 cents lower to 75.94 cents U.S.
Pipeline companies were among the biggest drags, with Enbridge Inc falling 1.3% to $58.02 and TransCanada Corp down 0.8% to $61.07.
Major energy producers also retreated, with Canadian Natural Resources off 1.7% to $39.62 and Suncor Energy declining 1.1 percent to $34.54.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday said a sharp slowdown in global oil demand growth, coupled with ballooning inventories and rising supply, means the crude market will be oversupplied at least through the first six months of 2017.
The financials group dwindled, with Royal Bank of Canada down 0.9% to $79.96 and Bank of Nova Scotia declining 1.3% to $68.74.
Open Text Corp added to a sharp gain in the previous session after agreeing to buy assets from a rival, advanced 1.3% to $86.09.
Agrium Inc and Potash Corp posted a second straight day of losses after the pair agreed to combine to navigate a severe industry slump by boosting efficiency and cutting costs, but the new company's potential pricing power may attract tough regulatory scrutiny.
Agrium was down 2.3% at $118.27 and Potash Corp lost 1.7% to $21.45.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dumped 9.07 points, or 1.1%, to 804.83
All 12 TSX subgroups were negative midday, with energy failing 3%, materials suffering 2.6%, and gold off 2.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell sharply Tuesday, lead lower by energy, as investors looked ahead to next week's Federal Reserve meeting while keeping an eye on falling oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials erased much of yesterday’s 230-plus-point hike, giving back 225.21 points, or 1.2%, to 18,099.86, with American Express leading decliners and Apple the only advancer.
The S&P 500 moved downward 29.79 points, or 1.4%, to 2,129.23, with energy falling nearly 3%, leading all sectors lower.
The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 61.01 points, or 1.2%, to 5,150.40, despite strong gains in Apple.
Investors have been closely scrutinizing every piece of economic data and parsing through every speech made by Fed officials, trying to find clues about what the central bank's decision on monetary policy will be.
The Fed is scheduled to meet next Tuesday through Wednesday. Market expectations for a Fed rate hike next week were 15% Tuesday morning,
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were slightly lower, raising yields to 1.73% from Monday’s 1.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices regressed $1.27 at $45.02 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices progressed $2.30 at $1,327.90 U.S. an ounce.
