(Updates prices)
* TSX down 155.32 points, or 1.2 percent, to 12,776.04
* Nine of the TSX's 10 main groups fall
TORONTO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
more than 1 percent on Friday in a broad retreat led by banks
and energy stocks on a fall in crude oil prices and
weaker-than-expected domestic retail sales.
The energy group retreated 1.5 percent while the
heavyweight financials group fell 1.3 percent, as domestic data
showed signs of slowing consumer demand and elevated prices.
Losses were broad, with nine of the 10 main sectors falling
and decliners outnumbering advancers by more than 4-to-1.
Only the materials group, which includes precious and base
metals miners and fertilizer companies, posted a rise, up 0.2
percent as gold miners benefited from the price of bullion
holding on to Thursday's gains. GOL/
At 10:04 a.m. EST (1504 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE fell 155.32 points, or 1.2
percent, to 12,776.04.
Still, the index remained on track for a roughly 3 percent
gain on the holiday-shortened week, helped by oil's first weekly
price gains this month as producers talk of a coordinated plan
to freeze output levels. O/R
On the day, U.S. crude CLc1 prices were down 3.4 percent
to $29.73 a barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 lost 2.7 percent
to $33.35.
The most influential movers on the index included Canadian
Natural Resources CNQ.TO , which fell 2.6 percent to C$28.345,
and Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO , which lost 0.6 percent to
C$32.79.
Pipeline company Enbridge Inc ENB.TO fell 1.9 percent to
C$43.02, despite reporting higher-than-expected
profit.
Canada's annual inflation rate picked up to 2 percent in
January, the highest since November 2014, lifted by food prices
and a rise in gasoline costs and underlining expectations the
Bank of Canada will keep monetary policy unchanged next month.
Separately, retail sales slumped in December as unseasonably
warm weather in many parts of the country cut into seasonal
purchases, data also released by Statistics Canada showed on
Friday. ECONCA
Consumer discretionary stocks fell 1 percent and staples
were off 0.5 percent.