Stock markets continue to move lower on economic sentiment

TORONTO: Stock markets deepened their losses as Friday morning wore on, with investors putting their optimism aside once again to focus on the struggling global economy.Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index dropped 271.45 points in morning trading to 9,081.14, after gaining 430 points or five per cent Thursday.The Canadian dollar was at 81.95 cents US, down 0.59 of a cent.Media conglomerate Canwest Global Communications Corp. (TSX:CGS) reported a billion-dollar quarterly loss after writing down its Canadian TV operations by $1.01 billion, which "reflects a deterioration in the near-term profit expectations." Its stock declined eight cents to 72 cents, down from $7.50 a year ago.On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials dropped 241.41 points to 8,594 and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 57.79 to 1,539. Both indexes had gained 6.5 per cent in the previous session. The S&P 500 tumbled 30.03 to 881, after increasing seven per cent a day earlier.Traders are re-focusing on the economy - and the picture keeps getting bleaker. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales fell 2.8 per cent last month - the steepest monthly decline on record, even worse than in the aftermath of the September 2001 terror.U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said financial markets remain under "severe strain," and he left open the door to further interest rate cuts. The Fed is scheduled to meet Dec. 16 at its last regularly scheduled meeting this year.On the TSX, the gold sector fell back two per cent, although the December bullion contract surged ahead $34.20 to US$739.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.