Jan 30 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday, hitting its lowest level in more than seven weeks as the declining price of oil pulled shares of energy companies down for the second day in a row.
* The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE ended down 139.21 points, or 0.86 percent, at 15,955.51.
* The index touched a session low of 15,947.09, its weakest level since Dec. 7, joining a sell-off in stocks world-wide. MKTS/GLOB
* The energy sector .SPTTEN retreated 2.9 percent as U.S. crude oil prices CLc1 settled down $1.06 at $64.50 a barrel amid signs of rising U.S. crude output. O/R
* Suncor Energy SU.TO was the biggest drag on the index, down 2.6 percent at C$44.35, while Canadian Natural Resources CNQ.TO declined 2.5 percent to C$42.57.
* Shares of Thomson Reuters TRI.TO bucked the downward trend, climbing 7.1 percent to C$57.37 after sources said Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Group BX.N was in advanced talks to buy a majority stake in a key Thomson Reuters unit. The gain in Thomson Reuters helped the larger financial sector .SPTTFS gain 0.1 percent. Elsewhere in the group, Toronto Dominion Bank TD.TO rose 0.5 percent to C$74.61.
* Shares of Shaw Communications SJRb.TO rose 0.9 percent to C$26.98 after the company said it would offer about 6,500 of its 14,000 employees voluntary departure packages. Financials and telecoms were the only two sectors to end in positive territory among the Toronto index's 10 main groups.
* The TSX posted three new 52-week highs and 10 new lows. Across all Canadian issues there were 10 new 52-week highs and 57 new lows.
* Among the most active Canadian stocks by volume were Aurora Cannabis ACB.TO , down 10.3 percent at C$11.62; NGEx Resources NGQ.TO , up 4.6 percent at C$1.15 and Bombardier BBDb.TO , down 4.4 percent at C$3.44.
* Volume on the TSX index was 227.04 million shares.