(Adds strategist comment, details; updates prices)
* TSX ends down 131.29 points, or 1.09 percent, at 11,942.17
* All 10 of the TSX's main groups fall
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell
on Monday, with energy shares down 2.5 percent after oil prices
hit 2003 lows and worries about broader economic weakness
weighing on consumer stocks.
Canadian Oil Sands Ltd COS.TO popped 10 percent higher to
C$8.27 after succumbing to Suncor Energy Inc's SU.TO sweetened
offer, while almost every other energy stock fell.
Suncor declined 4.6 percent to C$29.77 and Canadian Natural
Resources Ltd CNQ.TO lost 2.1 percent to C$23.92.
Oil prices slumped below $28 per barrel as traders braced
for a rise in Iranian exports after sanctions against Tehran
were lifted over the weekend. O/R
"If you had a solid, sharp bounce back above $30 that might
have done something for sentiment, but as it stands it's really
hard for the index to get much traction," said Elvis Picardo,
strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver.
U.S. markets were closed for the Martin Luther King Jr.
holiday, while an attempted rebound in European stocks fizzled.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE ended the session down 131.29 points, or 1.09 percent,
at 11,942.17.
"Negative sentiment is so overwhelming, it's not really
surprising to see the TSX trade down on a day like this,"
Picardo said.
Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau struck a more downbeat
note, saying the weak Canadian dollar and low oil prices hurt
large parts of the economy. L2N152176
All ten main sectors fell, with consumer staples down 2.3
percent and consumer discretionary off 1.2 percent. The
heavyweight financial sector slipped 0.5 percent.
Picardo said the market was bracing for China to report its
slowest growth in 25 years on Tuesday.
"This is historically the worst ever start for markets,
you've got major indices down 8 or 9 percent," he said. "For the
TSX to recover in the midst of that carnage is going to be very
difficult."
Beyond the oil patch, other major weights included
convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard ATDb.TO ,
down 2.9 percent at C$57.98, and telecom and media company BCE
Inc BCE.TO , which lost 1.3 percent to C$54.09.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals
miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.2 percent. Potash Corp
POT.TO fell 2.8 percent to C$23.03.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by almost 6-to-1, with 36
stocks hitting fresh 52-week lows.