Toronto stocks fell sharply Tuesday as the energy and materials sectors took a hard hit and dragged the benchmark index down.

The S&P/TSX composite index sank 260.25 points, or 1.85%, at 13,825.60, as only three of the 10 major TSX groups gained today.

The gold sub-index fell 4.55% as gold for June delivery fell US$18.70 to finish at US$876.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Barrick Gold Corp. stock closed down $1.57, or 3.97%, at $37.95 and Goldcorp Inc. shares fell $1.66, or 4.55%, to close at $34.81.

The heavyweight energy group sank 2.85%, as the June crude contract sank US$3.12, or 2.6%, to end at US$115.63 a barrel on the Nymex. Earlier in the day it hit a session low of US$114.95.

Petro-Canada shares fell 29¢, or 0.58%, to close at $49.84, after the company announced a Q1 profit of $1.1 billion, up from $590 million a year ago.

Meanwhile, Nexen Inc. reported that Q1 profit rose 421%, to $630 million and the firm doubled its dividend to 5¢ per share. Shares fell $1.16, or 3.17%, to finish at $35.45.

The materials group fell 4.76%, as Potash Corp., a major player on the TSX, shed $12.33, or 6.30%, to end at $183.27.

The base metals sector also weighed heavily on markets, falling 3.99%.

Lundin Mining Corp. shares fell 35¢, or 4.83%, to end the session at $6.90. As well, Teck Cominco Ltd. shares fell $2.69, or 5.86%, to close at $43.20.

The financials group closed down 0.53%, as Royal Bank of Canada shares ended up 84¢, or 1.75%, at $47.05.

In corporate earnings news, Jean Coutu Group Inc. reported a Q3 loss of $269.2 million, following last year‚s profit of $232.1 million. The company‚s shares fell 40¢, or 4.08%, to end the session at $9.40.

Meanwhile, shares in WestJet rose 44¢, or 2.64%, to close at $17.12, after it announced Q1 earnings of $52.5 million, up 75.9% from the same period last year.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 50.28 points, or 2.02%, to 2,432.89.

The Canadian dollar closed at US98.82, up 0.07 of a cent from yesterday’s close. The Bank of Canada announced today another $2 billion liquidity injection for the country’s banking system.

Markets in New York also tumbled, in part on a grim consumer sentiment reading and data showing that house prices continue to fall. As well, the U.S. Federal Reserve is scheduled to make an interest rate decision tomorrow.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 39.81 points, or 0.31%, at 12,831.94.

The S&P 500 fell 5.43 points, or 0.39%, to close at 1,390.94.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed up 1.70 points, or 0.07%, at 2,426.10.