(Adds details on specific stocks, sectors; updates prices)
* TSX down 38.68 points, or 0.26 percent, at 14,650.36
* Eight of the TSX's 10 main groups were higher
* Materials sector falls 4.1 percent
TORONTO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday as gold miners' shares plunged on major shutdowns and the precious metal hit its lowest since Britain's shocking vote to leave the European Union in June.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metal miners and fertilizer companies, lost 4.1 percent, while a global gold index heavily populated by Canadian miners .SPTTGD dropped 5 percent.
Both measures had risen steadily this year until August and have faltered since.
Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO lost 5.8 percent to C$21.47, and Goldcorp Inc G.TO fell 6.1 percent to C$19.41. Both miners, among the world's largest, are dealing with forced closures. string of other gold miners also featured among the heaviest weights, with Yamana Gold Inc YRI.TO down 8 percent at C$5.18 and Kinross Gold Corp K.TO off 7.1 percent at C$5.01.
Gold XAU= slid more than 2 percent, as forecast-beating U.S. manufacturing data on Monday stoked expectations that the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates by year-end. GOL/
Excluding the materials sector, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE would have traded in positive territory.
At 10:02 a.m. EDT (1402 GMT), the index was down 38.68 points, or 0.26 percent, at 14,650.36. Eight of its 10 main groups gained, and utilities were only slightly lower.
The most influential gainers included Canadian National Railway Co CNR.TO , which rose 1.1 percent to C$87.37, and Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO , which advanced 0.6 percent to C$36.47.
The index has rallied nearly 28 percent since hitting a three-year low in January as the price of oil, a key Canadian export, partially recovered.
It is expected to extend this year's hefty gains in 2017, a Reuters poll found, although stock market strategists said they were concerned about the outcome of the U.S. election and potential threats to global trade.