TORONTO (Reuters) — The Toronto Stock Exchange’s main index ended sharply lower yesterday for a second straight session as oil and metal prices continued their retreat.The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 147.84 points, or 1.2 percent, at 12,553.60, following on the heels of Wednesday’s 222-point dive.

All but three of the TSX’s 10 main groups retreated, led by a 3.3 percent drop by the heavyweight energy group. Mining shares also took a beating and ended down 3.2 percent.

“Most of the decline in the overall TSX is usually due to the energy index,” said Kate Warne, market strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis, Missouri.

“People are selling that on the expectation we will continue to see lower oil prices. It has led people to take some profits in commodities along with that.”

Unusually warm weather across much of North America continued to take its toll on the price of oil, which has plunged nearly nine percent in the past two days.

Oil fell to below $56 a barrel yesterday, its lowest since June 15, 2005, as demand for heating fuel continued to languish.

Copper prices also continued to slide as investors sold on demand jitters, while other base metals also sagged.

The last time the benchmark index saw a more than a 300-point loss over two days was in early September, again on a steep retreat in oil, as well as gold.

In the oil patch, Suncor Energy Inc. fell C$3.29, or 3.8 percent, to C$83.32, while natural gas major EnCana Corp. shed C$1.13, or 2.1 percent, to C$52.08.