March 27 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday, weighed down by losses in financial stocks, as diplomatic tensions with Russia weighed on the market sentiment.
The United States and many of its allies, including Canada, are expelling more than 100 Russian diplomats in retaliation to a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain that they blame on Moscow. sector, which accounts for more than one-third of the weight of the TSX, slipped nearly 27 points, with shares of Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO , Toronto-Dominion Bank TD.TO , Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO trailing by more than 0.5 percent each.
Shares of Barrick Gold ABX.TO down about 2 percent and Goldcorp G.TO fell 1.6 percent, pushing the materials sector lower as gold prices slipped amid a revival in risk appetite in global financial markets. energy sector gained 17 points as oil prices rose for the third day, on concerns that tensions in the Middle East could lead to supply disruptions. rebounded from a five-week low on Monday.
* At 9:45 a.m. ET (1345 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite Index .GSPTSE fell 37.19 points, or 0.24 percent, to 15,261.37.
* The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Sierra Wireless SW.TO , which rose 6.2 percent after Roth Capital raised its rating to "buy" from "neutral", while the biggest decliner was Eldorado Gold ELD.TO , down 5.5 percent.
* Among the most active Canadian stocks by volume were Aurora Cannabis ACB.TO , Canopy Growth Co WEED.TO and Bombardier B BBDb.TO .
* The TSX posted no new 52-week highs and 7 new lows. Across all Canadian issues there were 4 new 52-week highs and 16 new lows.
* Volume on the TSX index was 19.83 million shares, while the total volume on Tuesday was 30.57 million shares.