* TSX down 30.98 points, or 0.23 percent, at 13,590.32
* Seven of the TSX's 10 main groups fall
TORONTO, March 18 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index
slipped on Friday, with a pullback in resource stocks as well
as slips in telecom and consumer staples names offsetting modest
gains for industrial stocks.
Still, the index was on track for a 0.5 percent gain on the
week, its third straight weekly gain, helped by rising oil
prices.
Canadian Pacific Railway CP.TO was among the most
influential gainers in morning trade, rising 2.4 percent to
C$173.23, while convenience store operator Alimentation
Couche-Tard ATDb.TO declined 2.2 percent to C$57.61.
TransCanada Corp TRP.TO fell 1.3 percent to C$48.77 after
the company said it will buy Columbia Pipeline Group CPGX.N
for $10.2 billion, creating one of North America's largest
regulated natural gas transmission businesses.
The broader energy group slipped 0.4 percent even as oil
prices kept pushing higher.
At 10:12 a.m. EDT (1412 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 30.98 points, or 0.23
percent, at 13,590.32.
Seven of the index's 10 main groups were in negative
territory, although advancers slightly outnumbered decliners.
The heavyweight financials group slipped 0.1 percent, while
telecoms fell 0.6 percent and consumer staples lost 1.2 percent.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals
miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.5 percent.
Industrials rose 0.6 percent.
U.S. crude CLc1 prices were up 1.9 percent to $40.96 a
barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 added 2.0 percent to
$42.36. O/R
Canadian retail sales rebounded strongly in January, while
separate data showed a slowdown in the annual inflation rate in
February, weighed by a drop in gasoline prices.