(Adds portfolio manager quotes, details on Enbridge and BCE ,
updates prices)
* TSX closed down 109.65 points, or 0.78 percent, at
13,884.23
* The index hit its lowest since May 19 at 13,855.48.
* Seven of the TSX's 10 main groups ended lower
By Fergal Smith
TORONTO, June 14 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
for a fifth straight day on Tuesday, hitting a three-week low as
financial and resource stocks retreated ahead of Britain's vote
on whether to leave the European Union.
The heavyweight financials group fell 1.0 percent as worries
about a potential British exit saw investors push Germany's
10-year bond yield below zero for the first time.
Opinion polls show growing support for Britain to leave the
EU, which investors worry could tip the bloc into recession.
"The market is reacting to that in quite a negative
fashion," said Elvis Picardo, vice president of research at
Global Securities.
Recent focus on Canada's potentially overheated housing
market has also been a headwind for financials, Picardo added.
"It raises concerns among investors about the extent of the
exposure that the banks have to the mortgage business in
Canada," he said.
Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO fell 1.8 percent to C$77.11 and
Toronto-Dominion Bank TD.TO declined 1.2 percent to C$55.86.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE closed down 109.65 points, or 0.78 percent, at
13,884.23. The index hit its lowest since May 19 at 13,855.48.
Seven of the index's 10 main groups ended lower.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals
miners and fertilizer companies, lost nearly 2 percent as
concern about the global growth outlook offset a nearly six-week
high for gold.
Spot gold XAU= edged 0.2 percent higher as rising Brexit
fears supported safe-haven assets such as gold, while investors
expected that the Federal Reserve will delay any U.S. interest
rate hike again at its meeting that ends Wednesday.
GOL/
Energy stocks fell 0.3 percent, pressured by lower oil
prices.
Enbridge Inc ENB.TO fell 1.5 percent to C$53.39, while
U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 settled 39 cents lower at $48.49 a
barrel. O/R
The telecommunications group was one of the few that
advanced, rising 0.9 percent. It included a 1 percent advance in
the shares of BCE Inc BCE.TO to C$59.12.
Canadian household debt as a percentage of income edged
lower in the first quarter but remained high as consumers
continued to borrow.