TSX, U.S. index drop

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

In this Oct. 29, 2012 photo, the floor of the New York Stock Exchange is pictured in New York. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Richard Drew

North American markets drifted lower after Japanese markets plunged, disappointing Chinese manufacturing data and plans from the U.S. Fed to end its extraordinary stimulus program sometime in the future.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 118.05 points to 12,634.45. The Canadian dollar was down 0.36 of a cent to 96.77 cents US.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials index dropped 36.57 points to 15,270.60, the S&P 500 was down 14.84 points to 1,640.51, while the Nasdaq dipped 35.15 points to 3,428.15.

Japan's main index fell 7.3 per cent — its largest slide since the country was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami more than two years ago. The drop was also partly blamed on a spike in Japanese government bond yields.

HSBC reported that its preliminary purchasing managers index for China fell to a seven-month low of 49.6 in May from April's 50.4. Below 50 indicates that activity is contracting. Analysts had expected a more modest decline to 50.3.