Stocks punished as oil hits fresh highs

North American equity markets fell sharply as oil prices touched another record high on Wednesday.

In afternoon trading, the S&P/TSX composite index was off 428 points at 14,038, led lower by an eight per cent drop in the mining sector. The materials sector was down more than five per cent, while industrials were off four per cent and the information technology group shaved more than three per cent.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 87 points to reach 11,294. The Nasdaq composite index dropped almost 32 points, falling to 2,273.

In commodities trading, the price of oil reached an intraday record of $143.91 US a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before finishing at $143.57, up $2.60 from Tuesday.

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