The Toronto Stock Exchange recovered from a triple-digit decline earlier on in the day, as North American traders weighed persistent concerns about a global slowdown.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index still ended the day down 83.87 points to 12,518.54
The Canadian dollar stepped ahead 0.03 of a cent to 100.99 cents U.S.
The energy sector fell on the TSX, with shares in Suncor Energy Inc. down 72 cents to $29.28.
Copper prices lost seven cents to $4.06 U.S. The mining sector on the TSX was down with shares in Teck Resources Ltd. down 32 cents to $41.34.
In Canadian corporate news, Jaguar Financial Corp., an investment bank with holdings in Research In Motion, is urging fellow shareholders to push the BlackBerry maker to explore its strategic options, including potentially selling or splitting up the company. Shares in RIM recovered $1.04 to $30.63, while Jaguar shares shed a penny to 6.5 cents.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 20.54 points to 1,789.82, while the Nasdaq Canada index actually finished higher by 1.80 points to 522.89
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups finished the session negative. Metals and mining dipped 2.3%, while energy dwindled 1.8% and consumer discretionaries declined 1.6%.
The three gainers proved to be gold, up 1.5%, materials, ahead 0.7%, and utilities, inching up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks fell Tuesday, extending last week's losses, following a major selloff in Europe on Monday.
European markets ended mixed Tuesday after the Swiss National Bank moved to stabilize the nation's currency.
But the long-running debt crisis in Europe, which appears to be spreading from Greece to Italy and other vulnerable nations, continued to weigh on U.S. markets.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 100.96 points to close at 11,139.30. Earlier in the day, the blue-chip average sank over 300 points to trade below the 11,000 mark
The S&P 500 settled 8.73 points to 1,165.24, while the Nasdaq demurred 6.50 to 2,473.83.
U.S. financial markets were closed Monday for the Labour Day holiday. Last week, the major indexes all ended lower after sharp losses on Thursday and Friday.
Stocks fell on Friday after the U.S. government said the nation's employers added zero jobs to their payrolls in August. The report renewed fears that the United States may be headed into another recession.
President Obama will outline steps to boost hiring Thursday in a highly anticipated speech to Congress. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will discuss the nation's economic outlook on the same day at an event in Minnesota.
But many investors say political gridlock could get in the way of progress as lawmakers return from recess.
In the meantime, investors were flocking to assets that are seen as safe havens (see below).
Shares of major U.S. banks were among the weakest performers.
Bank of America fell 3.4% after reports surfaced that the bank could cut 30,000 workers over several years.
On Friday, the federal agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac filed lawsuits against 17 financial institutions. The lawsuits cited Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs; and were filed in an attempt to recover billions of dollars in losses from risky mortgage investments.
Beyond bank stocks, shares of Hewlett Packard and General Electric were also under pressure. But Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson managed to post modest gains.
Economically speaking, the Institute for Supply Management's services report for August came in at 53.3, up from July's reading of 52.7 and well above economists' forecasts of 51. Any reading above 50 signifies expansion.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to a record low level of 1.98% from 2% late Friday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for October delivery was flat at $86.41 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices surged to an intraday record earlier Tuesday of $1,923.70 U.S. an ounce. But the precious metal retreated later in the day, rising $1.50 to settle at $1,878.40 U.S. an ounce
