(Adds details, updates prices)
* TSX falls 229.4 points, or 1.81 percent, to 12,444.97
* Nine of the TSX's 10 main groups retreat
TORONTO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on
Tuesday, with financial and energy stocks weighing as crude oil
prices dropped on renewed concern about oversupply.
The most influential movers on the index included its
biggest bank by market capitalization, Royal Bank of Canada
RY.TO , which fell 1.9 percent to C$69.93, and the No. 1 oil
and gas company, Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO , which declined 4.4
percent to C$30.42.
The energy group retreated 4.5 percent. Canadian Natural
Resources CNQ.TO , another major player in the sector, tumbled
4.1 percent to C$27.90.
Imperial Oil Ltd IMO.TO declined 3.9 percent to C$40.20
after the country's No.2 integrated oil producer and refiner
reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit.
Oil CLc1 LCOc1 fell 5 percent, dented by worries about
the demand outlook and rising supply, while hopes for a deal
between OPEC and Russia on output cuts faded. O/R
At 9:57 a.m. EST (1457 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 229.4 points, or 1.81
percent, at 12,444.97.
Nine of the index's 10 main groups were in negative
territory, with healthcare stocks bucking the trend.
There were just 10 gainers, heavily outnumbered by 226
decliners.
The index had gained more than 1,000 points since Jan. 20,
when it hit its lowest since August 2012, but it has pulled back
so far this week.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc BAMa.TO shares declined
2.0 percent to C$40.68 after it withdrew an offer to buy a stake
in infrastructure company Invepar.
The financials group slipped 1.7 percent, and industrials
fell 2.3 percent.
Canadian Pacific Railway CP.TO declined 2.7 percent to
C$162.28. Democrats from Pennsylvania's congressional delegation
sent a letter to a U.S. federal rail regulator on Monday raising
concerns over the possible negative impacts of a merger between
CP and Norfolk Southern Corp (N:NSC) NSC.N .