TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index fell broadly yesterday for a third straight session, touching a 2009 low, pressured by weak energy and financial issues and a slide by Rogers Communications Inc.

The heavily weighted financial services and energy sectors both retreated 3.6 percent, while telecoms also tumbled 3.6 percent.

EnCana Corp dropped 3.7 percent to C$49.40 and Royal Bank of Canada fell 4.2 percent to C$26.98.

Rogers shed 7.7 percent to C$31.70 after the media and communications company said it swung to a quarterly loss as it took almost C$300 million in impairment charges on its conventional television business to reflect the impact of the weak economy.

The market's drop came even as US President Barack Obama unveiled a plan that pledged up to $275 billion to help stabilise the troubled US housing market.

"There continues to be a lot of scepticism about these big, billion-dollar packages being announced by the US Government," said Elvis Picardo, analyst and strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver.

Picardo said the Toronto market may also be under pressure as it plays "catch up" to slumping US stocks.

The Toronto index is down nine percent so far this year, while the Dow Jones industrial average is down about 14 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 index is off about 13 percent, he noted.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 202.75 points, or 2.42 percent, to finish at 8,175.95, with all but one of its 10 main sectors in the red. At one point, the index dropped to 8,138.98, its lowest level in 2009.

The lone sector in the black was the resource-laden materials sector, which eked out a 0.9 percent gain as investors flocked to gold for refuge from the economic gloom.

Barrick Gold climbed 2.6 percent to C$48.40 and Goldcorp rose one percent to C$40.85.