* TSX down 168.77 points, or 1.25 percent, to 13,308.77
* Eight of the TSX's 10 main groups are lower
TORONTO, March 15 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
on Tuesday as weaker commodity prices weighed on energy and
mining stocks, while the shares of a major drugmaker tanked.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE:VRX) VRX.TO plunged
more than 40 percent to C$50.84 after it cut its 2016 revenue
forecast by about 12 percent and said a delay in filing its
annual report could pose a debt default risk.
Energy sector shares retreated 2.2 percent, while the
materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners
and fertilizer companies, lost 0.9 percent.
Oil and gas producer Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO
fell 3.4 percent to C$34.88, while Cenovus Energy Inc CVE.TO
was down 2.0 percent at C$16.99.
U.S. crude CLc1 prices fell for a second day, down 2.7
percent at $36.18 a barrel, as concerns emerged that a six-week
rally may have fizzled after OPEC doused hopes for a speedy
erosion of a global overhang of unwanted crude. O/R
Gold fell to its lowest in almost two weeks ahead of a
Federal Reserve meeting that is expected to give clues on the
pace of future U.S. rate rises, while copper also dipped.
GOL/ MET/L
Among Canadian mining stocks, First Quantum Minerals Ltd
FM.TO , declined 7 percent to C$7.44, while Teck Resources Ltd
TCKb.TO fell 7.3 percent to C$9.23.
At 11:12 a.m. EST (1512 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE fell 168.77 points, or 1.25
percent, to 13,308.77. On Friday, the index posted a three-month
high at 13,543.29.
Eight of the index's 10 main groups were lower.
The financials group fell 0.3 percent, including a 1.3
percent drop in Manulife Financial Corp MFC.TO to C$18.51.