The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Canada's main stock market posted on Tuesday its biggest decline since October after hotter-than-expected domestic inflation data and U.S. retail sales numbers fanned concerns of more interest rate hikes. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that the S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 390.75 points at 19,899.79, its lowest closing level since July 11. Canada's annual inflation rate surged more than expected to 3.3 per cent in July as core measures eyed by the central bank remained stubbornly high. The Toronto market's financial sector, which accounts for 29 per cent of the Toronto Stock Exchange's weighting, fell nearly 2 per cent. All 10 major sectors ended lower. The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 3.4 per cent, while energy was down 2 per cent. Oil settled 1.8 per cent lower at $80.99 (U.S.) a barrel. Wall Street stocks also fell after stronger-than-expected retail sales data stoked worries interest rates could stay higher for longer, while U.S. big banks dropped on a report that Fitch could downgrade some lenders. Concerns about the strength of China's economy weighed on oil markets.