Resource stocks helped send the Toronto stock market down about 150 points late Friday morning as commodity prices retreated amid data showing a weakening Chinese economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index lost 139 points to 12,076.
The world's second-biggest economy saw its growth rate decline to 8.1 per cent in the three months ended in March, down from the previous quarter's 8.9 per cent. The growth was the weakest since the second quarter of 2009.
The commodity-sensitive Canadian dollar was down 0.33 of a cent to 100.22 cents US.
U.S. markets were also negative as the Dow Jones industrials lost 95 points to 12,891.
The Nasdaq composite index declined 36 points to 3,020 and the S&P 500 index was down 13 points to 1,375.
Commodity prices backed off in the wake of the Chinese growth data.
Copper falls
China has been a major contributor to the global recovery from the recession that followed the 2008 financial crisis. Its huge appetite for commodities has boosted prices for oil and metals and the stocks of resource producers on the TSX.
May copper fell 11 cents to $3.62 US a pound. China is the world's biggest consumer of copper, which is known as an economic barometer as it is used in so many industries. The May contract on the Nymex lost 36 cents to $103.28 US a barrel.
Bullion prices also declined as the June contract lost $11.60 to $1,669.00 US an ounce.
The European debt crisis also continued to weigh on sentiment.
Borrowing by Spanish banks from the European Central Bank jumped sharply during March. The Bank of Spain said the country's banks nearly doubled their borrowing in March from the European Central Bank to C316.3 billion against the prior month.
Yields on 10-year Spanish government bonds surged 0.11 of a point to 5.89 per cent. Bonds were also under selling pressure in Italy, where yields on 10-year government bonds jumped 0.15 of a point to 5.47 per cent.
European bourses declined near the end of trading with London's FTSE 100 index down 1.1 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX lower by 2.4 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 off 2.5 per cent.
