TSX plunges on Chinese selloff, oil weakness

• The Toronto Stock Exchange registered a triple-digit loss Monday, led by the resource sectors, following a major sell-off in the Chinese market and weakness in oil.

The S&P/TSX composite index plunged 184.87 points to close at 14,001.37, while the loonie lost 0.06 of a cent at 76.66 cents U.S.

The move in Toronto came after the Shanghai share index posted its biggest one-day plunge since February 2007.

Nearly all of the sectors of the TSX closed lower, with the exception of health care. Resources fared especially poorly, with the gold sector losing more than four per cent, while metals and mining lost 3.7 per cent, materials lost 3.1 and energy closed 2.8 per cent lower.

China is a major importer of metals and oil, which are heavily weighted sectors on the TSX.

In commodity trading, light-crude futures fell US$1.10 to US$47.39, while natural gas gained two cents to US$2.79. Gold — often seen as a safe haven for investors during times of economic turmoil — closed higher, gaining US$10.90 to US$1,096.50.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 127.94 points to 17,440.59, while the Nasdaq sank 48.85 points to 5039.78 and the S&P 500 fell 12.01 points to 2067.64.

Meanwhile, in U.S. economic news, business investments and shipments data remained soft, while June durable goods order exceeded analyst expectations.

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