* TSX down 94.98 points, or 0.7 percent, at 13,474.91.
* Seven of the TSX's 10 main groups lower
By Leah Schnurr
OTTAWA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
on Friday as energy shares tumbled alongside the price of oil
after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) cut its crude forecast.
Investors were also looking ahead to next week's meeting of
the U.S. Federal Reserve, which could prove pivotal if the
central bank decides to raise interest rates for the first time
in nearly a decade.
The uncertainty over whether the Fed will lift rates next
week or wait until later in the year could mean greater
volatility in global markets, including Canada.
"The decision that they make next week will be one of the
most closely watched decisions in the last couple of years,"
said Bryden Teich, associate portfolio manager at Avenue
Investment Management in Toronto.
"It just adds a little bit of uncertainty for the next week,
and I think most people are waiting for cues on what they're
going to do to see how things shake out from there."
But the main driver of Friday's trading was the 3.5 percent
decline in the price of oil after Goldman cut its 2016 crude
forecast due to oversupply and concerns about China's economy.
U.S. crude CLc1 traded at $44.31 a barrel, off $1.62.
Oil is a major export for Canada and the slump in prices has
hit the economy, putting it into a mild recession in the first
half of the year. Energy shares make up about 30 percent of the
TSX.
At 10:21 a.m. EDT (1421 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 94.98 points, or 0.7
percent, at 13,474.91. Seven of the TSX's 10 main groups were
lower.
Oil companies were among the biggest drags on the index,
with Suncor Energy inc SU.TO down 2 percent at C$34.32 and
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO declining 3.3 percent to
C$26.65.
The overall energy group .SPTTEN retreated 2.7 percent,
while stocks of other natural resources companies also fell,
including Goldcorp G.TO , down 1.9 percent at C$16.47.
Shares of Dollarama Inc DOL.TO gave up early gains to
trade slightly lower after the discount retailer posted a
better-than-expected increase in quarterly profit and sales. A
number of firms raised their price target for Dollarama on
Friday morning. Dollarama edged down 0.1 percent at C$85.4.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)