(Adds strategist comment, updates prices to close)
* TSX closes down 73.08 points, or 0.51 percent, at
14,240.02
* Eight of the TSX's 10 main groups move lower
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, June 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
on Thursday after hitting its highest level since August a day
earlier, with energy stocks hurt by oil's pullback and
financials down with bond yields and a Bank of Canada warning on
the country's housing market.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE has been moving steadily higher since a multi-year low
in January, helped by a recovery in oil prices to around $50 a
barrel from nearer $25.
Crude prices slipped in the session after a three-day rally,
with a strong U.S. dollar sparking profit-taking. O/R
"The TSX has been on a tremendous run," said Elvis Picardo,
strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver, adding it and
other global indexes "seem to be running off a little bit of
steam here."
Financial stocks fell 0.75 percent overall, as the Bank of
Canada warned that rapid price hikes for homes in Toronto and
Vancouver are unlikely to continue.
The energy group retreated 1.4 percent, with Canadian
Natural Resources CNQ.TO down 1.4 percent to C$38.08 and
Cenovus Energy Inc CVE.TO off 3.3 percent at C$19.28.
The most influential movers on the index included Manulife
Financial MFC.TO , which declined 2.5 percent to C$18.55.
Toronto-Dominion Bank TD.TO lost 0.7 percent to C$57.20,
and Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO slipped 0.9 percent to C$66.32.
The index ended down 73.08 points, or 0.51 percent, at
14,240.02. Eight of its 10 main groups fell, with two decliners
for every gainer.
Picardo said that the index may struggle to push much higher
given investor worries about a possible British exit from the
European Union, uncertainty about when the U.S. Federal Reserve
may raise interest rates, and the risks surrounding the U.S.
federal election.
Canada-listed gold miners offset the losses as bullion
extended a rally to a three-week high. GOL/
Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO gained 2.1 percent to C$24.91 and
Goldcorp Inc G.TO rose 1.8 percent to C$23.81.
Baytex Energy Corp BTE.TO rose 1.2 percent to C$8.53,
extending recent sharp gains. The company has restarted nearly
all the heavy crude output it shut last year, encouraged by the
months-long rally in oil prices, a source familiar with the
matter said on Wednesday.
Industrials fell 0.7 percent, while the materials group,
which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer
companies, added 0.3 percent.
Gold futures GCc1 rose 0.8 percent to $1,270.5 an ounce,
while copper prices CMCU3 fell 1.4 percent to $4,514.85 a
tonne. MET/L GOL/