(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Friday in contrast to its U.S. counterparts, as losses in cannabis stocks countered a broader lift to sentiment from optimistic tones on trade talks from the United States and China.
* At 09:43 a.m. ET (14:43 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 11.85 points, or 0.07%, at 16,987.34.
* Wall Street advanced as U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News that a trade deal with China was potentially very close. (N)
* Beijing had said earlier it wanted to work out an initial agreement with Washington, following reports that a truce could be delayed to 2020.
* Seven of the index's 11 major sectors were lower, led by a near 4% drop in healthcare stocks.
* Hexo Corp dropped 6.8%, the most on the TSX, while the second biggest decliner was Cronos Group Inc, down 5.7%.
* The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.1% while the industrials sector fell 0.3%.
* The energy sector climbed 0.5% as oil prices held near two-month highs.
* U.S. crude prices were down 0.2% a barrel, while Brent crude was unchanged.
* On the TSX, 133 issues were higher, while 92 issues declined for a 1.45-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 30.66 million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Ballard Power Systems (TO:BLDP), which jumped 3.5% and ARC Resources Ltd (TO:ARX), which rose 2.8%.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Husky Energy (TO:HSE), Manulife Financial Corp (TO:MFC) and Aurora Cannabis Inc (TO:ACB).
* Eight stocks on the TSX posted new 52-week highs and no new low.
* Across all Canadian issues there were 24 new 52-week highs and five new lows, with total volume of 44.49 million shares.