(Adds details of trading, sector moves; updates prices)
* TSX falls 38.08 points, or 0.28 percent, to 13,597.98
* Seven of the TSX's 10 main groups decline
TORONTO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slipped
on Wednesday, pushed lower by a sharp fall in energy stocks on
cheaper oil and losses for miners as gold and copper prices also
declined.
The overall retreat was offset by gains for two major banks
after they reported earnings.
At 10:29 a.m. EST (1529 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 38.08 points, or 0.28
percent, to 13,597.98.
The most influential weights on the index included Suncor
Energy Inc SU.TO , which fell 1.2 percent to C$37.35, and
Canadian Natural Resources CNQ.TO , which declined 1.6 percent
to C$31.82.
U.S. crude CLc1 prices were down 2.0 percent to $41.02 a
barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 lost 1.9 percent to $43.58, as
U.S. inventories rose and investors discounted the possibility
of OPEC cutting output at its meeting this week.
The overall energy group retreated 1.6 percent, while
materials stocks retreated 0.9 percent.
Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO fell 2.2 percent to C$9.94 and
Goldcorp Inc G.TO declined 1.7 percent to C$15.94, outpacing
a 0.7 percent slip in gold futures GCc1 to $1,056.4 an ounce.
Copper prices declined 0.7 percent to $4,598.5 a
tonne.
Shares of Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO , the country's
biggest lender, gained 0.3 percent to C$77.10 after it reported
an 11 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit. It became the first
Canadian company to record C$10 billion in annual profit.
National Bank of Canada NA.TO rose 0.8 percent to C$44.47
on higher profit and an increased dividend.
The financial group, which accounts for 38 percent of the
index's weight, gained 0.25 percent.
The Bank of Canada held interest rates steady even though it
said vulnerabilities in the household sector, which has been
stretched by high debt spurred by people taking advantage of
cheap mortgage costs, continued to edge higher.