Canada's main stock index ended down along with U.S. markets as central bank leaders emphasize the need to raise rates, while oil prices and energy stocks rose in reaction to news of production cuts by OPEC plus.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 256.08 points, or 1.33 per cent, at 18,979.01.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 346.93 points at 29,926.94. The S&P 500 index was down 38.76 points at 3,744.52, while the Nasdaq composite was down 75.33 points at 11,073.31.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.89 cents US compared with 73.31 cents US on Wednesday.

The November crude contract was up 69 cents at US$88.45 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up 4.2 cents at US$6.97 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was unchanged at US$1,720.80 an ounce and the December copper contract was down 5.5 cents at US$3.45 a pound.

- With files from BNN Bloomberg