(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Thursday, as investors were worried that action from central banks and governments may not be sufficient to stave off a deep coronavirus-driven global recession.
** At 9:49 a.m. ET (1349 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite index was down 262.37 points, or 2.24%, at 11,459.05.
** Failing to lift market sentiment was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement on Wednesday that his government would provide C$27 billion ($18.6 billion) in direct support to families and businesses struggling because of the coronavirus outbreak, and stood ready to do more.
** Nine of the index's 11 major sectors were trading lower.
** The energy sector gained 1.2% as U.S. crude prices were up 8.6% a barrel, while Brent crude added 2.5%.
** Oil prices rose after a 3-day slump.
** Investors also shrugged off a private survey, which showed Canada added 7,200 jobs in February, the eighth consecutive month of job gains, led by hiring in the construction sector.
** The financials sector slipped 2.4%, while the industrials sector fell 2.1%.
** The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners, lost 4.2% as gold prices fell.
** On the TSX, 51 issues were higher, while 177 issues declined for a 3.47-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 43.79 million shares traded.
** The top percentage gainers on the TSX were shares of Real Matters Inc (TO:REAL), which jumped 15.2%, followed by shares of Hexo Corp (TO:HEXO), which rose 9.6%.
** OceanaGold Corp (TO:OGC), which dropped the most on the TSX, was down 17.3%.
** The most heavily traded shares by volume were Husky Energy (TO:HSE) and Bombardier (TO:BBDb).
** The TSX posted no new 52-week high and 40 new lows.
** Across all Canadian issues there were four new 52-week highs and 218 new lows, with total volume of 71.55 million shares.