TSX, Dow tumble on global growth worries

It was an ugly day on stock markets in Canada, the U.S. and around the world Thursday as worriesabout weakness in China and other emerging markets intensifiedand oil prices remained nearsix-year lows.

The main benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange fell for the ninth time in 11 trading sessions as the heavily weightedfinancialand energy groupslost more ground.

• Oil dips below $41 US a barrel, hitting new 6-year low
• China devalues the yuan amid worsening trade slump

The S&P/TSX composite index dropped below the 14,000 level and closed at a new low point for the year, tumbling300points, or 1.9per cent, to 13,737.

It was the second straight day of triple-digit losses for the TSX and the fourth losing session in a row.

All groups were down with the exception of materials, as gold stocks benefited from a $25US per ounce jump in the price of the precious metal on safe-haven buying. The energy groupshed 2.5per cent; financials lost 1.7per cent.

The main TSX index has lost more than10 per cent of its value in the last year. The energy and financial sectors, which together account for just overhalf of the weight of the index, get much of the blame.

Oil prices, which haveplunged by more than 60 per cent in that time,have left the shares of many energy producerssitting at 52-week lows.

Bank shares have weakened as the market worried about the banks' exposure to the beleaguered commoditiessector.

Markets down around the world

Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist atCMC Markets Canada, saysa broad-based market correction may be underway."I think there's a growingfeeling that the world economy is starting to teeter," he tells CBC News.

"There's a lot of weakness out thereand over time, that can impact on corporate earnings." He also cited seasonal factors for the current slide, pointing out thatthe mid-August to mid-October period is often a weaktime for stocks.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged358points, or 2.1per cent, to 16,991. Thiswas the first close for the Dow below 17,000 since last October and wasthe biggest one-day percentage drop for the Dow in almost18 months.

The broader S&P 500 index shed 2.1 per cent to close at a five-month low, while the Nasdaqdropped 2.8 per cent.

"The largest issue is certainly the fact that we don't know how much the Chinese economy is slowing," saidArt Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York, in remarks quoted byReuters.

China's cooling economy and its recentcurrency devaluationswereweighing on markets in North Americaand elsewhere.China's stock markets in Shanghai andShenzhenboth lost more thanthree per cent on Thursday and that rattled investors around the world.

Most European markets ended lower on Thursday.The main London stock indexhit its lowest level since January and the main German stock index is having its worst month in three years.

Stocks in Japan fell almostoneper cent.