Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday, weighed by energy stocks as a surge in US crude stockpile and rising coronavirus cases in the United States and Europe raised fears of a supply glut and weaker fuel demand.

The energy sector dropped 3% as US crude prices were down 5.4% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 4.7%.

At 9:37 a.m. ET (13:37 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 233.4 points, or 1.46%, at 15,787.54.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 2.7%

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc fell 6.5%, the most on the TSX, while Teranga Gold Corp slumped 6%.

The country's central bank is expected to announce its interest rate decision at 10:00 a.m. ET, and hold it at 0.25%.

On the TSX, three issues were higher, while 220 issues declined for a 73.33-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 20.15 million shares traded.

The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Firstservice Corp, which jumped 2.2% and Celestica Inc , which rose 0.7% after both companies posted upbeat third-quarter results.

The most heavily-traded shares by volume were Bank of Montreal, Bombardier Inc, and Royal Bank of Canada.

The TSX posted no new 52-week highs and one new low.

Across all Canadian issues there were one new 52-week highs and nine new lows, with a total volume of 35.78 million shares.