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CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls as Potash Corp shares hit hard

Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:49pm EDT

Stocks

   

* TSX down 0.27 percent at 9,747.13

* Materials sector declines 2.12 percent

* Potash, Agrium shares fall on India contract news (Adds details, updates closing numbers)

TORONTO, July 10 (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index finished lower on Friday, but off session lows, as falling prices for oil and metals kept pressure on the resource-heavy index and shares of Potash Corp (POT.TO) were hit hard by pricing reports.

Potash Corp stock was the biggest drag on the index, down 8.9 percent at C$99.12, after fertilizer trade publications reported that India had settled some of its 2009 potash contract order with Russian producer Silvinit (SILV.RTS) at a price sharply below market expectations. [ID:nN10522755]

Agrium (AGU.TO), another fertilizer producer, lost 4.7 percent to C$42.10.

The index's mining-heavy materials sector dropped 2.12 percent, hurt by Potash, and as prices for gold and other metals were pressured by lingering concerns about the speed of the economic recovery.

The energy sector also weakened, falling 0.08 percent, as the price of oil fell below $60 a barrel.

"Here in Canada we also had weakness in gold early in the day," said Bob Gorman, chief portfolio strategist at TD Waterhouse. "It's not as soft as it was but nonetheless it's down. That adds a little bit more pressure in Toronto that you wouldn't see south of the border."

The S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE closed down 26.79 points, or 0.27 percent, at 9,747.13. It fell more than 1 percent early in the day.

Six of the index's 10 main groups were lower.

($1=$1.16 Canadian) (Reporting by Ka Yan Ng; editing by Peter Galloway)



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