SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Canadian stocks were hit hard near the end of the Wednesday session as energy and financials stocks pushed Canada's benchmark index lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index (CA:SPTSX: news , chart , profile ) gained as much as 171 points during the day, but a nosedive in afternoon trading smacked Wednesday's close down 198.93 points, or 1.44%, to 13,610.84.
Decliners outnumbered advancers 841 to 697.
The only gaining indicator among all 10 of the TSX sector gauges was utilities, which finished up 0.86%.
The other nine sectors declined, with information technology losing 2.8%, financials falling 2.8% and energy stocks losing 1.4%.
Among notable decliners were BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (CA:RIM: news , chart , profile ) , down 4.1%; Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CA:CNQ: news , chart , profile ) , down 3.5%; and EnCana Corp. (CA:ECA: news , chart , profile ) , down 3.2%.
Advancers included Cyclical Split NT Corp. (CA:CYC: news , chart , profile ) , up 4.2%; Agrium Inc. (CA:AGU: news , chart , profile ) , up 2.7%; and ARC Resources Ltd. (CA:ARX: news , chart , profile ) , up 2.5%.
Nathan Becker is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.