(Adds details on specific stocks, investor comment, updates prices)
* TSX down 166.22 points, or 1.06 percent, to 15,483.32
* Eight of the TSX's 10 main groups move lower
* Energy group down 2.5 pct, financials off 1.8 pct
TORONTO, April 27 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell sharply on Thursday as its heavyweight banking and energy sectors took heavy losses, with oil prices weighing and an alternative lender's troubles putting the domestic housing market in focus.
Home Capital Group Inc HCG.TO said it had hired bankers to help it secure additional funding and size up its strategic options, as the subprime lender reported a further sharp decline in its assets amid a security regulator's probe into its disclosures. shares popped 13.9 percent to C$6.82, offsetting some of Wednesday's 60 percent plunge, but the broader financial group - which accounts for a third of the index's weight - fell 1.8 percent.
"People are concerned that maybe this is the tip of the iceberg for the housing market," said Rick Hutcheon, president and chief operating officer at RKH Investments.
Royal Bank of Canada, the country's biggest bank, RY.TO fell 1.8 percent to C$93.77, while Toronto-Dominion Bank TD.TO lost 1.6 percent to C$64.70 and Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO shed 2.9 percent to C$75.20.
Canada's federal housing agency said on Wednesday that Toronto still faces price acceleration, overvaluation and overheating. Ontario's provincial government earlier this month set a tax on foreign buyers amid a host of measures designed to cool Toronto prices.
At 11:16 a.m. ET (1516 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 166.22 points, or 1.06 percent, to 15,483.32.
The energy group - which account for another 20 percent of the index's weight - retreated 2.5 percent as oil prices fell on news that two key oilfields in Libya had restarted, pumping crude for export into an already bloated market. O/R
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO fell 3.9 percent to C$43.30 and Encana Corp ECA.TO also shed 3.9 percent, to C$14.15.
Canada's largest oil and gas company, Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO advanced 0.4 percent to C$41.78 after reporting better-than-expected profit. company Potash Corp of Saskatchewan POT.TO advanced 2.7 percent to C$23.27 after reporting a beating profit expectations and upping its full-year outlook. rival and planned merger partner Agrium AGU.TO advanced 2.6 percent to C$129.64.