Manufacturing growth in Asia and Europe slowed in November due to weak demand, and U.S. manufacturing sector growth hit its lowest in 10 months, separate reports showed.
Oil prices remained volatile, initially slipping to a five-year low before rebounding to jump more than 4 percent. [O/R]
The broader Canadian benchmark has been pulled down by recent weakness in energy shares, which have lost more than a third of their value since mid-June. The energy sector slipped 1.4 percent on Monday.
The decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to hold output at a meeting last week has sent both oil prices and energy shares into a tailspin.
"It's essentially followthrough selling from last week because OPEC's decision not to cut output has had a catastrophic impact on the energy producers," said Elvis Picardo, strategist and vice president of research at Global Securities in Vancouver.
"The continued spate of bad news on crude oil has spooked investors," he added. "Volatile commodity prices are going to be a feature of the markets going forward."
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> shed 119.38 points, or 0.81 percent, to close at 14,625.32, after touching its lowest point in more than three weeks.
Eight of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red.
Among energy producers, Talisman Energy Inc (>> Talisman Energy Inc.) shed 5.7 percent to C$5.14 and Encana Corp (>> Encana Corporation) lost 1.1 percent to C$17.82.
Financials, the most heavily weighted sector on the TSE, gave back 0.8 percent. Bank of Montreal (>> Bank of Montreal) was down 0.7 percent at C$83.29.
The gold mining sector was a bright spot, shooting up 7 percent as price of bullion surged. Goldcorp Inc (>> Goldcorp Inc.) added 7.4 percent to C$24.06, and Barrick Gold Corp (>> Barrick Gold Corp.) climbed 3.9 percent to C$14.07.
In corporate news, mining company Tahoe Resources Inc (>> Tahoe Resources Inc) said the Guatemalan Congress passed legislation that would raise the royalty rate in the mining law. The stock dropped 7.5 percent to C$16.43.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, G Crosse)
By John Tilak
