Stock markets and the Canadian dollar both retreated Thursday as investors looked past some good earnings reports to focus on loan worries and U.S. housing sector problems.

Trading was volatile as both the S&P/TSX Composite index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 400 points at one point today before regaining some of their lost ground.

Trader Damian Bagarozza rubs his head as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.
(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The S&P/TSX Composite index finished down 260.72, or 1.8 per cent, at 13,844.

Thursday's losses in Toronto came just two days after the index shed 400 points — its biggest one-day loss in terms of points in six years. On July 19, the index hit a record high close of 14,625.76.

Among the TSX's subindices, the mining sector lost 3.8 per cent, energy lost 2.3 per cent, the gold group lost 2.7 per cent and financial services shed 1.8 per cent.

In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended with a loss of 311.50 points at 13,473.57. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite index slipped 48.83 points to close at 2,599.34.

Stock markets have been losing ground recently over concerns in the U.S. housing market. New home sales south of the border fell 6.6 per cent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 834,000 units.

The U.S. subprime mortgage sector has been a source of worry in the United States for several months, as rising interest rates have led to more people falling behind on their mortgages or going into default.

In addition, the failure of a group of banks to sell a debt package for Cerberus Capital's acquisition of Chrysler prompted worries about corporate lending.

While credit and lending worries weighed on the minds of investors, they looked past good earnings reports from Petro-Canada and Apple, among others.

On foreign exchange markets, the Canadian dollar fell 1.18 cents US to finish at 94.91 cents US. Just two days ago, the loonie hit a 30-year high when it reached 96.36 cents US on a strong May retail sales report.