The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that in equity markets Wednesday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 216.49 points at 35,906.56, its third straight day of declines and the lowest closing level since Sept. 1. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says the heavily weighted financials lost 1.1 per cent, industrials were down 1.2 per cent and technology ended 2 per cent lower. Gains for resource shares helped limit the Toronto Stock Exchange's decline. Energy added 1 per cent and the materials group was up 0.9 per cent. The S&P 500 declined 0.48 per cent to close at 7,636.46 points. Nasdaq declined 0.64 per cent to 26,253.34 points, while the Dow declined 0.77 per cent to 52,381.02 points. The S&P 500 is down around 2 per cent from its Aug. 13 record high close, and it remains up about 12 per cent in 2026. Meta surged over 6 per cent and lessened the S&P 500's decline after launching an artificial intelligence assistant capable of sending e-mails, selling cars and making travel bookings for users. Alphabet declined 2.3 per cent after it said it would invest at least $15.1-billion in AI infrastructure in Finland over the next two years, including a major deal for the supply of nuclear power.