(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Thursday, as energy and materials stocks tracked weaker commodities, while data showed the nation shed jobs for the second straight month in February.
* The energy sector dropped 1.4% on weaker crude prices, while the materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.3%.
* Canada lost 100,800 jobs in February, driven by a decline in hiring in the leisure and hospitality as well as the trade and construction sectors, a report from payroll services provider ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) showed.
* At 9:40 a.m. ET (13:40 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 55.31 points, or 0.29%, at 18,927.79.
* Miners Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd and OceanaGold Corp, were the biggest decliners on the index, down 3.5% and 3.4% respectively.
* The financials sector gained 0.8%. The industrials sector fell 0.2%.
* On the TSX, 63 issues were higher, while 150 issues declined for a 2.38-to-1 ratio, with 15.62 million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Power Corporation of Canada, which jumped 2.9% after multiple brokerages hiked the price target of the stock, and insurance firm Great-West Lifeco Inc, which rose 2.2%.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Zenabis Global Inc, Shaw Communications Inc, and Hexo Corp.
* The TSX posted eight new 52-week highs and no new lows.
* Across all Canadian issues there were 53 new 52-week highs and eight new lows, with total volume of 38.93 million shares.