(Adds portfolio manager quotes, details on Brookfield Asset
Management and Goldcorp , updates prices)
* TSX closed down 30.09 points, or 0.22 percent, at
13,881.20
* Six of the TSX's 10 main groups ended lower
By Fergal Smith
TORONTO, April 21 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
on Thursday as losses for financial and consumer shares offset
gains for resource stocks and a jump in shares of a healthcare
company on reported takeover interest.
Still, the index has rallied 20 percent since hitting a
nearly 3-1/2-year low in January. It reached a nearly six-month
high on Wednesday at 13,971.83.
Comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and
weaker than expected earnings from two major U.S. companies
weighed on sentiment, according to Ben Jang, portfolio manager
at Nicola Wealth Management.
"This is the first little speed bump that we've had during
this earnings season and so the market is reacting to that,"
said Jang.
Draghi defended the ECB's cheap money policy against sharp
criticism from Germany.
The heavyweight financials group fell 0.5 percent, including
a 2.5 percent drop in the shares of Brookfield Asset Management
Inc BAMa.TO to C$42.23, while Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO was
down 0.5 percent at C$77.51.
Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO fell 1.2 percent to C$1.72. Canada
will not give the struggling aircraft maker federal aid without
assurances on jobs, investment in research and the location of
the company's headquarters, a senior government official said on
Wednesday.
Consumer staples stocks also lost ground, falling 2.3
percent. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc ATDb.TO was down 3.8
percent at C$55.88.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE closed down 30.09 points, or 0.22 percent, at
13,881.20. Six of the index's 10 main groups ended lower.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals
miners and fertilizer companies, rose 1.3 percent.
Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO advanced 3.6 percent to C$20.79,
while Goldcorp Inc G.TO was up 3.7 percent at C$22.37.
Spot gold XAU= rose 0.4 percent. GOL/
The shares of Concordia Healthcare Corp CXR.TO jumped more
than 25 percent to C$38.65. Asset manager Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Group LP
BX.N is considering a takeover of the drug developer,
Bloomberg reported.
The energy group edged 0.3 percent higher despite pullback
in oil.
Ongoing short covering has helped support the group, said
Jang.
U.S. crude CLc1 settled at $43.18 a barrel, down 2.26
percent.