(Adds portfolio manager comments, details on Suncor Energy ,
updates prices)
* TSX closes down 2.82 points, or 0.02 percent, at 14,012.32
* Five of the index's 10 main groups end lower
By Fergal Smith
TORONTO, June 21 (Reuters) - Canada's main stocks edged
lower on Tuesday as losses for gold ahead of a vote by Britain
on its European Union membership weighed on mining stocks,
offsetting gains for financial and energy stocks.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals
miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.9 percent, including a 3
percent drop in shares of Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO to C$24.54.
Spot gold XAU= fell 1.9 percent as U.S. and European
shares rose amid receding expectations that Britain could vote
to leave the European Union in Thursday's referendum.
GOL/ MET/L
Industrial stocks also lost ground, falling 0.9 percent as
railway stocks retreated.
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd CP.TO slid 2.3 percent to
C$159.30 after warning it expects revenue to fall about 12
percent in the second quarter from a year ago.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE closed down 2.82 points, or 0.02 percent, at
14,012.32. Five of the index's 10 main groups ended lower.
The index has retreated 3 percent from a recent 10-month
peak at 14,450.91 as the so-called Brexit risk weighed on global
stocks.
It will require a further recovery in the price of oil for
the TSX to reach new highs, said Bryden Teich, associate
portfolio manager at Avenue Investment Management.
U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 settled 52 cents lower at
$48.85 a barrel. O/R
Still, some losses for oil were pared after rebels
sabotaging Nigeria's crude exports denied a one-month ceasefire
agreement, while the overall energy group rose 0.4 percent.
Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO plans to make acquisitions in the
North Sea and Eastern Canada to bolster its offshore upstream
oil business as assets become available due to the slump in
global oil prices, three sources familiar with the process told
Reuters.
Its shares rose 0.5 percent to C$34.70.
Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO advanced 0.8 percent to C$78.62
and Brookfield Asset Management Inc BAMa.TO added 1.9 percent
to C$44.14.
A reduction in Brexit risk has helped financial stocks rally
after they were among the worst hit last week as risk appetite
soured, said Bryden Teich, associate portfolio manager at Avenue
Investment Management.
The overall financials group climbed 0.7 percent.
Canadian equity fund managers say they have raised their
exposure to domestic stocks over recent months because of
improved confidence in the local market, while keeping a close
eye on the risk that would be posed by Britain's withdrawal from
the European Union.