(Adds portfolio manager comments, updates prices)
* TSX ends down 159.13 points, or 1.33 percent, to 11,843.11
* Nine of the TSX's 10 main groups fall
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
1.3 percent on Wednesday, managing to pare some losses after
plunging to an almost 3-1/2 year low as a rout in oil prices
rumbled on and the Bank of Canada deciding against cutting
rates.
The index had fallen nearly 4 percent earlier as energy and
financial shares weighed heavily, with some seeing a good omen
in the afternoon buying interest.
"I think we're getting to the end of the hysteria," said
Rick Hutcheon, president and chief operating officer at RKH
Investments. "Chances are we're getting to the point where the
bulk of the damage has been done."
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE ended down 159.13 points, or 1.33 percent, to
11,843.11. It had slumped as low as 11,531.22, its lowest level
since Aug. 3, 2012.
Nine of the index's 10 main groups fell, with the materials
group bucking the trend helped by rising gold miners.
Banks and other financial stocks fell 1.8 percent, with
Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO down 2.7 percent to C$65.62 and
Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO off 2.6 percent at C$51.87. Insurer
Manulife Financial Corp MFC.TO fell 1.6 percent to C$17.75.
Energy stocks lost 1.3 percent, while industrial stocks fell
1.4 percent.
"Now's a time to hold firm," said John Stephenson, president
at Stephenson & Company Capital Management. "I think it's
getting close to the time to double down, if you will, on better
bets, but I'd like to see truthfully more of a capitulation out
there."
He said the index could fall another 3 percent to 5 percent
before valuations start to entice investors back in.
The Bank of Canada held rates steady rather than cutting
despite lower growth, opting for patience because of expected
help from a weak currency, past rate cuts, fiscal stimulus and
U.S. strength.