* TSX down 211.53 points, or 1.66 percent, at 12,552.46
* Nine of the TSX's 10 main groups fall
TORONTO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on
Monday as heavyweight banking and energy stocks lost ground,
offsetting gains among gold miners.
Oil and gas companies retreated 2.7 percent, while the
financial group slipped 2 percent. Industrials fell 1.8 percent.
The most influential weights on the index included Royal
Bank of Canada RY.TO , which fell 2.1 percent to C$69.68, and
Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO , which lost 2.7 percent to C$31.02.
Oil prices fell as a meeting of producing countries Saudi
Arabia and Venezuela showed few signs that steps would be
taken to deal with a supply overhang. O/R
Canadian banks followed their European counterparts lower as
worries over global growth triggered stress in the financial
sector.
At 10:17 a.m. EST (1517 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 211.53 points, or
1.66 percent, at 12,552.46.
Nine of the index's 10 main groups were in negative
territory, with decliners outnumbering advancers by almost six
to one.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metal
miners and fertilizer companies, added 2.6 percent as the price
of bullion jumped. GOL/
Goldcorp Inc G.TO advanced 8.5 percent to C$20.75, Barrick
Gold Corp ABX.TO rose 4.3 percent to C$16.89, and Yamana Gold
Inc YRI.TO gained 14.1 percent to C$3.64.
U.S. crude CLc1 prices were down 3.3 percent at $29.87 a
barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 lost 2.4 percent to $33.25.
O/R
Gold futures GCc1 rose 3.5 percent to $1,198.3 an ounce.
GOL/