(Adds analyst comment, updates prices to close)
* TSX ends down 75.14 points, or 0.52 percent, at 14,339.53
* Seven of the TSX's 10 main groups fell
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
on Wednesday as China's currency weakened further, but pared its
sharpest losses as oil prices bounced off six-year lows.
Losses were heaviest among banks, fertilizer producers and
some energy stocks.
Crude oil prices LCOc1 CLc1 rose following Tuesday's
rout, while base metals CMCU3 sank to six-year lows on worries
demand from China, the world's top metals buyer, would wane.
MET/L O/R
The resource-heavy Toronto market has been hit hard by
negative global sentiment that has battered commodity prices.
The latest monetary move in China, which the People's Bank
of China says should mean the yuan better reflects market
prices, is likely to maintain the pressure. ID:nL3N10M6AI
"I don't see how it can be positive for commodities," said
Ian Nakamoto, director of research at MacDougall, MacDougall &
MacTier. "It just shows that they are concerned about the health
of their economy."
Energy stocks fell 0.5 percent, with Canadian Natural
Resources Ltd CNQ.TO down 3 percent at C$31.94 and Suncor
Energy Inc SU.TO losing 0.7 percent to C$37.49.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE lost 75.14 points, or 0.52 percent, at 14,339.53. Of
the index's 10 main groups, seven ended lower.
Shares in fertilizer companies Potash Corp POT.TO and
Agrium Inc AGU.TO moved lower after a U.S. government report
showed harvests yielded more than expected, weighing heavily on
corn and soybean futures. ID:nL1N10N1IO
Potash lost 2.1 percent to C$33.90 and Agrium fell 2.5
percent to C$131.91.
Major banks also figured prominently in the index's losses,
with Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO down 1 percent at C$75.84. The
overall financials group retreated 0.9 percent.
"World economic growth has been slowing and markets have
been ignoring that and now they're catching up with reality,"
said Subodh Kumar, chief investment strategist at Subodh Kumar &
Associates.
"It's hard to say when sentiment will change. We're
somewhere in the bottoming process," said Kumar, who expects a
pickup later this year or early in 2016.
The materials group, home to mining firms, rose 1.7 percent,
as gold miners were buoyed by the higher price of bullion, a
safe-haven. Most of the index's top gainers were gold miners.
Goldcorp Inc G.TO advanced 4.2 percent to C$19.78, while
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd AEM.TO surged 7.8 percent to C$33.51
and Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO gained 4.2 percent to C$10.55.
Gold futures GCc1 rose 1.4 percent to $1,123.20 an ounce.
GOL/
Air Canada AC.TO shares fell 6.4 percent to C$12.08 after
Canada's biggest carrier said a closely watched revenue number
declined.