TORONTO — The Toronto Stock Exchange fell about 2.5 per cent early Tuesday, joining a decline that began overseas and continued after North American markets opened.
Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index was down 351.97 points at 13,507.16 after 90 minutes of trading, but had been lower earlier in the morning.
The Dow Jones average of 30 stocks was down 349.02 points or 2.1 per cent at 16,179.01 while the broader S&P 500 index was down 40.0 points or 2.1 per cent at 1,931.58 and the Nasdaq was down 70.92 points or 1.7 per cent at 4,203.66.
In Europe, major markets in London and Paris were also down about three per cent near the end of their trading day. Earlier, China's Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets and Japan's Nikkei also closed lower.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.17 of a cent at 76.18 cents US.
On the commodity markets, the December gold contract rose $7 to US$1,139.50 an ounce, the October crude contract was down $2.88 at US$46.32 a barrel and the October contract for natural gas was flat at US$2.69.
