May 22 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was dragged down by energy stocks on Friday, as oil prices fell and tensions between the United States and China rose.
* At 9:44 a.m. ET (13:43 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 25.83 points, or 0.17%, at 14,859.02.
* The nation's domestic retail sales fell a record 10% in March as many non-essential businesses were shut down to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Statistics Canada said on Friday, and also warned that April data could reveal an even sharper decline. The energy sector .SPTTEN dropped 2.2% as U.S. crude CLc1 prices fell 3.0% a barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 lost 3.1%. O/R
* The financials sector .SPTTFS slipped 1.1%, while industrial stocks .GSPTTIN rose 0.2%.
* The materials sector .GSPTTMT , which includes precious and base metal miners and fertilizer companies, added 1.9% as gold futures GCc1 rose 0.4% to $1,726.6 an ounce. GOL/
* On the TSX, 77 issues were higher, while 143 issues declined for a 1.86-to-1 ratio in favor of the losers, with 26.60 million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was software developer Lightspeed POS Inc LSPD.TO , which jumped 6.1% as multiple brokerages raised price targets on the stock.
* Lightspeed was followed by miner Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd WDO.TO , which rose 5.1% as rising Sino-U.S. tension drew concerned investors to safe havens.
* Aurora Cannabis Inc ACB.TO fell 4.4%, the most on the TSX, after several brokerages cut price targets on the pot company's stock.
* The second-biggest decliner was Vermilion Energy Inc VET.TO , down 4.7%.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Manulife Financial Corp MFC.TO , down 0.9%, and Sun Life Financial Inc SLF.TO , which fell 0.5%.
* The TSX posted two new 52-week highs and no new low.
* Across all Canadian issues, there were nine new 52-week highs and one new low, with total volume of 42.29 million shares.