* TSX down 45.02 points, or 0.34 percent, at 13,338.67
* Eight of the TSX's 10 main groups end lower
TORONTO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index
slipped on Thursday as worries about global economic growth
weighed on most major sectors, offsetting a gain in shares of
mining companies.
The drop extended the benchmark index's losses for a third
straight session. The TSX is down about 9 percent since the
start of the year.
The TSX, which is sensitive to commodity prices due to its
high concentration of resource names, has been particularly
volatile over the last month amid growing worries that slowing
global growth will hurt demand in those sectors.
"We see further weakness in the equity markets in the medium
term," said Youssef Zohny, portfolio manager at StennerZohny
Investment Partners of Richardson GMP Ltd, which manages about
C$28.3 billion in assets.
"But there are pockets of opportunity, and we saw that today
with the big rally in gold," he added.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE closed down 45.02 points, or 0.34 percent, at
13,338.67. Eight of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the
red.
Financial shares were down 0.5 percent. Bank of Montreal
BMO.TO fell 0.2 percent to C$69.79, and Bank of Nova Scotia
BNS.TO lost 0.5 percent to C$57.24.
The materials sector, home to resource firms, climbed 3.6
percent on the back of rallying gold mining stocks. The price of
gold rose to a three-week high after the U.S. dollar softened on
soft economic data.
Goldcorp Inc G.TO jumped 7.4 percent to C$17.97, while
Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO surged 10.4 percent to C$8.72.
Valeant Pharmaceutical International VRX.TO had the
biggest negative pull on the in TSX, falling 3.8 percent to
C$278.69. Healthcare retreated 3.1 percent.