(Adds strategist comment, updates prices to close)
* TSX ends up 2.11 points, or 0.01 percent, at 14,787.40
* Index gained 0.4 percent in October
* Eight of the TSX's 10 main groups move higher, energy drags
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Canada's benchmark stock index ended a touch higher on Monday as gold miners gained, but energy stocks fell and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE:VRX) VRX.TO slumped on a report its former executives are the focus of a U.S. criminal probe.
The index's energy sector, which accounts for one-fifth of the index's weight, fell 1.9 percent as oil prices settled at one-month lows on doubts about OPEC's ability to implement planned production cuts and expectations that the cartel had record output in October. O/R
"Part of this is just letting a little bit of that enthusiastic air out of the balloon," said Craig Fehr, Canadian market strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis, Missouri, referring to optimism about an OPEC deal that had helped push oil prices above $50 a barrel for much of October.
The index's most influential weights included Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO , which fell 2.5 percent to C$40.25, and Cenovus Energy Inc CVE.TO , down 3.4 percent to C$19.35.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE settled up 2.11 points, or 0.01 percent, at 14,787.40. It gained 0.4 percent in October.
Valeant shares fell 12 percent to C$23.94 after Bloomberg reported that U.S. prosecutors are building a fraud case against the drugmaker that could yield charges within weeks. materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, gained 1.7 percent. Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO rose 3.1 percent to C$23.60.
Seven of the index's 10 main groups were in positive territory, although advancers only barely outnumbered decliners.
The heavyweight financials group gained 0.2 percent, with Toronto-Dominion Bank TD.TO up 0.6 percent to C$60.86.
Canadian producer prices rose by 0.4 percent in September from August, pushed up by higher prices for energy and petroleum products as well as motorized vehicles, Statistics Canada said.