(Updates to provisional close)
By Maiya Keidan
TORONTO, March 17 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index
fell on Friday, dragged down by losses in financial and energy
stocks as fears of a global banking meltdown continued to plague
investors.
At provisional close, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX
composite index was down 152.83, or 0.77%, at
19,387.72, its second straight week of losses.
"People are worried about recession," said Sean Oye,
portfolio manager at Nicola Wealth Management. "In terms of
recession, commodities and materials tend to sell off, and
Canada's exposed both to oil, commodities as well as heavily
exposed to financials."
Financial stocks , which make up the largest
portion of the Canadian index, were down 1.8% while energy
stocks dropped 1.6%.
Fears of a banking crisis failed to subside even after
several major U.S. banks offered a $30 billion lifeline for
beleaguered First Republic Bank , while Credit Suisse
also received an emergency liquidity line from the Swiss central
bank.
Technology stocks also fell 0.2% on.
Pot stocks, such as Canopy Growth Corp and Cronos
Group , fell in a broader sell-off, dragging the
healthcare index down 1.3%.
Bucking the trend, the utilities and materials
sector , which includes precious and base metal miners
and fertilizer companies, gained 0.2% and 3.3% respectively.
(Reporting by Maiya Keidan
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Messaging: maiya.keidan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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