TORONTO, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock market fell Wednesday because higher crude prices fueled sharp gains by oil and gas companies.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index fell 16.6 points, or 0.11 percent, to end the day at 15,126.81, Eight of the index's 10 main sectors declined.
Oil prices gained more than two percent after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said the global crude surplus was beginning to shrink due in part to an output drop from key producers.
Canadian Natural Resources rose 2.9 percent to 40.22 Canadian dollars while Encana Corp jumped six percent to 12.42 Canadian dollars. The energy sector gained 2.5 percent.
The influential financials sector edged up 0.2 percent though most individual advances were modest. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd jumped 4.4 percent to 626.86 Canadian dollars.
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, fell 1.8 percent. But losses were offset by Eldorado Gold's 15.8 percent surge to 2.79 Canadian dollars.
Teck Resources Ltd fell 5.4 percent to 26.73 Canadian dollars while First Quantum Minerals Ltd sank 3.6 percent to 13.30 Canadian dollars.
Industrials lost 0.9 percent, with Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd declining 2.2 percent to 191.67 Canadian dollars after a price and ratings cut by National Bank of Canada. The bank cut its target price for Canadian National Railway, which fell 1.6 percent to 98.06 Canadian dollars.
