(Adds portfolio manager comment, updates prices)
* TSX ends down 69.70 points, or 0.52 percent, at 13,341.93
* Energy group falls 3 pct; industrials, materials,
utilities down
TORONTO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index
slipped on Wednesday as slumping oil prices weighed on the
heavyweight energy sector and embattled Valeant Pharmaceuticals (N:VRX)
International Inc VRX.TO also fell.
Valeant lost 5.5 percent to close at C$104.66 a share after
a U.S. judge ruled it and one of its investors must face a
lawsuit accusing them of insider trading.
The company is facing intense scrutiny of its drug pricing
policies and allegations about its relationship with a related
pharmacy.
A decline in oil prices, with U.S. crude CLc1 settling
down 2.9 percent, fueled the retreat in the energy sector.
"Energy is trading off today given what we saw overnight in
China's industrial numbers," said Manash Goswami, a portfolio
manager at First Asset Investment Management Inc.
China's factory output growth hit a seven-month low in
October while investment expansion slipped to its weakest pace
since 2000.
"It's hard to see the commodities do much better until we
start to see more global growth coming through," Goswami said.
Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO lost 2.4 percent to C$38.19, and
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO gave back 2.3 percent to
C$31.71.
Goswami said his firm had added to their telecom, real
estate and pipeline exposure recently to take advantage of still
attractive yields that investors have discounted in the face of
a pending Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE ended down 69.70 points, or 0.52 percent, at
13,341.93.
The energy group fell 3 percent, while industrials,
materials and utilities also weighed.