(Adds fund manager comment, details, updates prices to close)
* TSX ends down 41.04 points, or 0.29 percent, at 13,882.41
* Energy sector falls 1.2 pct; materials down 1.4 pct
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, June 16 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
on Thursday as energy and mining stocks dragged due to lower oil
prices and a reversal in bullion following the suspension of
campaigning for Britain's European Union referendum after a
lawmaker was shot dead.
Gold miners transformed from the main offset to a down
market in morning trade to its heaviest weight by the close.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE ended down 41.04 points, or 0.29 percent, at
13,882.41.
Gold prices fell from a two-year high, and Barrick Gold Corp
ABX.TO ended down 2 percent at C$25.99 after trading more than
4 percent higher earlier in the session. GOL/
Goldcorp Inc G.TO swung to a 3 percent loss at C$22.85.
"Uncertainty is never good for markets," said Bryden Teich,
associate portfolio manager at Avenue Investment Management,
adding that his firm has held onto cash going into the British
vote.
Whether Britain leaves the European Union, dubbed "Brexit,"
is an issue that will be decided in a referendum next week and
could undermine decades of European integration and stoke global
economic uncertainty.
The TSX index has fallen almost 4 percent since peaking this
month at its highest in 10 months, on a mix of Brexit jitters, a
dim economic outlook, and a pullback in crude.
"The TSX had run a little bit ahead of fundamentals," Teich
added.
The Bank of Canada said economic growth likely stalled in
the second quarter due to the impact of Alberta wildfires, while
slumping investment spending plans in the energy sector and the
possibility that households will suddenly curb their spending
due to high debt levels also present risks.
The energy group retreated 1.2 percent as crude prices slid
4 percent, while the materials group that includes precious and
base metals miners and fertilizer companies fell 1.4 percent.
The most influential gainers included the country's largest
bank, Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO , which added 0.4 percent to
C$77.32, and telecom company Telus Corp T.TO , up 1.5 percent
at C$41.56.
Foreign investors bought a net C$15.52 billion ($11.94
billion) in Canadian securities in April, the fourth straight
month of relatively significant purchases, Statistics Canada
said on Thursday. by James Dalgleish and Sandra Maler)