Global growth fears hammer TSX

Toronto stock market saw a selloff across all sectors Tuesday, as it fell almost two per cent amid a fresh round of concern that global growth could stagnate.

Uncertainty over the level of participation by private creditors in Greece’s planned bond swap two days before a critical deadline also discouraged buyers. The S&P/TSX composite index tumbled 225.32 points to 12,298.63. The TSX Venture Exchange fell 50.93 points to1,604.87.

Falling prices for oil and metals pushed the commodity-sensitive Canadian dollar down 0.64 (U.S.) of a cent to 99.94 cents.

U.S. indexes were also deep in the red as the Dow industrials lost 203.66 points to 12,759.15. The Nasdaq f ell 40.16 points t o 2,910.32, and the S&P 500 index was down 20.97 points to 1,343.36.

Concerns about China’s slowing growth continued to dampen sentiment after Premier Wen Jiabao announced Monday that the country was targeting a lower growth rate of 7.5 per cent, compared with a previous target of eight per cent. Strong Chinese growth has been an important prop for a global economy still struggling to recover from the 2008 financial crisis. Growth there has supported higher commodity prices and rising stock prices on the resource-heavy Toronto stock market. Copper was among the biggest commodity losers as the May contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 12 cents to $3.74 a pound. The energy sector lost 2.8 per cent as the April crude contract declined $2.02 to $104.70 a barrel.