(Adds portfolio manager comments, updates prices)
* TSX closed down 43.66 points, or 0.31 percent, at
13,993.88
* Eight of the TSX's 10 main groups ended lower
By Fergal Smith
TORONTO, June 13 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
for the fourth straight day on Monday, hitting a nearly
three-week low as global jitters about whether Britain will vote
to leave the European Union weighed, but losses were restrained
by gains in resource stocks.
Financial stocks fell in line with Asian and European shares
as investors worried that a "Brexit" could tip Europe back into
recession and as core sovereign debt yields declined.
Lower bond yields hurt margins for the banks and raise the
value of long-term liabilities held by insurance companies, said
Steve Belisle, senior portfolio manager at Manulife Asset
Management.
Bank of Montreal BMO.TO declined 0.7 percent to C$82.52,
while Brookfield Asset Management BAMa.TO slipped 3.9 percent
at C$43.81.
Selling by exchange traded funds weighed on Brookfield's
shares following recent changes to the company's index
classification, said Belisle.
The overall financials group fell 0.5 percent, while
industrial stocks dropped 0.9 percent, including losses for
railway stocks. The telecommunications group declined 1.2
percent.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE closed down 43.66 points, or 0.31 percent, at
13,993.88. The index hit its lowest since May 24 at 13,958.82.
Eight of the index's 10 main groups ended lower.
Gold prices reached their highest since mid-May on the back
of the fading risk appetite, helping Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO
jump 3.6 percent to C$25.90. Fertilizer company Potash Corp
POT.TO advanced 1.8 percent to C$22.09.
Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd TRQ.TO advanced 13 percent to
C$4.16 after the mining company provided a business update last
week.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals
miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.8 percent, while spot
gold XAU= also rose 0.8 percent. GOL/
The energy group edged 0.1 percent higher despite lower oil
prices. U.S. crude CLc1 prices settled down 19 cents at $48.88
a barrel. O/R
Penn West Petroleum Ltd PWT.TO soared 38.8 percent to
C$1.61 as multiple brokerages upped their target prices on the
company after it said it would sell its Saskatchewan assets for
$975 million on Friday.
Shares of TransCanada Corp TRP.TO firmed 0.4 percent after
the pipeline operator said it will build and operate a $2.1
billion natural gas pipeline in Mexico, as the company continues
to ramp up its presence in the Latin American country's large
gas market.