TSX Drops 140 Points As Miners Plunge -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks tumbled Monday morning, with significant weakness emerging in the mining sector.

A stronger U.S. dollar and concerns about global demand for oil and metals have hit resource shares badly today.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 140 points, or 1 percent, to 13,559.79.

Base metal mining shares have plunged 10 percent.

Energy shares were down percent, as crude oil slipped near $44 a barrel.

Raging wildfires continued to interrupt oil sands production in Alberta, while Saudi Arabia replaced longtime oil minister Ali al-Naimi with Khalid al-Falih, the chairman of state-owned oil company Aramco.

Gold futures dropped $20 to $1270 an ounce.

In corporate news, Manulife Financial Corp. (MLF.TO) is no longer drawing blood, testing urine and collecting other biometric data for inexpensive term life insurance policies.