* At 9:40 a.m. ET (13:40 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 94.4 points, or 0.46%, at 20,381.02.
* The energy sector dropped 1.9% as oil prices plummeted on concerns that rising COVID-19 cases, particularly in major importer China, could lead to new restrictions and dent fuel demand. [O/R]
* The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1% as concerns over Chinese demand hit base metal prices, while a rising dollar hurt precious metals. [GOL/] [MET/L]
* Defensive sectors such as real estate and consumer staples were among the few gainers.
* The financials sector slipped 0.3%. The industrials sector fell 0.1%.
* On the TSX, 50 issues advanced, while 178 issues declined in a 3.56-to-1 ratio favoring losers, with 19.35 million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust, which jumped 15.1% after private equity firm Blackstone agreed to buy the company for $1.86 billion.
* Westport Fuel fell 7.0%, the most on the TSX, while the second biggest decliner was Lightspeed Pos Inc , down 6.3%.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Enbridge Inc , Manulife Financial and Bombardier Inc .
* The TSX posted four new 52-week highs and three new lows.
* Across Canadian issues, there were 48 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows, with total volume of 34.68 million shares.
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick; editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Vinay Dwivedi)
