TSX tumbles as commodities fall

The Toronto stock market had an- other losing session on Thursday as weaker commodities weighed heavily on the industrial and metals sectors. The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 26.91 points to 12,409.25, while the TSX Venture Exchange slid 8.63 points to 1,334.89.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.21 of a cent (U.S.) to 102.41 cents.

TSX energy stocks were up 0.4 per cent while the price of crude inched lower for the October contract, fall- ing 11 cents to $91.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The November contract, which traded in higher volume, gained 12 cents to $92.42. Copper slid 5.5 cents to $3.76 a pound while gold bullion fell $1.50 to end the session at $1,770.20 an ounce.

Shares of Canadian railroad companies fell after U.S. competitor Norfolk Southern warned that its earnings will be weaker than anticipated. CP Rail dropped 2.2 per cent, or $2.17 (Canadian), to $80.75, while CN Rail pulled back 4.2 per cent, or $4.15, to $87.44. The TSX Industrials sector fell 2.1 per cent. In sobering news for investors: a survey pointing to a deepening recession in Europe, figures from Japan that showed the country’s powerhouse export sector was continuing to suffer and a private survey of manufacturers in China that showed activity fell again in September. The Dow was ahead 18.97 points to 13,596.93, the Nasdaq fell 6.66 points to 3,175.96 and the S&P 500 index backed off 0.79 of a point to 1,460.26.