TORONTO: Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday, pulling back from a record high hit the day before, as lower commodity prices weighed on shares of energy and materials companies and domestic retail sales fell the most in nine months.
At 11:03 a.m. ET (1603 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index fell 43.87 points, or 0.28 percent, to 15,878.50.
Still, the TSX is up 3.9 percent since the start of the year after notching a 17.5 percent gain in 2016.
Some of the biggest drags on the index were its major energy companies, with Canadian Natural Resources Ltd falling 1.3 percent to C$39.34 and Cenovus Energy retreating 2.9 percent to C$18.02.
The overall energy group fell 1.3 percent, pressured by lower oil prices.
U.S. crude prices were down 1.4 percent at $53.57 a barrel as the U.S. dollar in which payments for crude are made, rose ahead of minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting.
The energy group has fallen more than 7 percent year-to-date as investors weigh prospects for a proposed U.S. border adjustment which could hamper the competitiveness of Canada's oil exports.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.2 percent, with Teck Resources Ltd losing more than 2 percent to C$28.55 and Barrick Gold Corp declining 1.6 percent to C$26.04.
Gold futures fell 0.4 percent to $1,232.8 an ounce and copper prices declined 0.5 percent to $6,031 a tonne.
Five of the index's 10 main groups were lower.
Among those that were higher, industrials climbed 0.6 percent as railroad stocks gained and financials firmed 0.1 percent.
Meat packaging company Maple Leaf Foods reported a smaller-than-expected profit and also said it would allow its largest shareholder to take a bigger stake in the company. Its shares rose 0.4 percent to C$29.96.
Waste Connections Inc advanced 2 percent to C$113.01. On Tuesday, it reported fourth-quarter results and provided a 2017 outlook.
Canadian retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.5 percent in December as consumers bought fewer new cars and spent less during the holiday shopping season, putting a damper on expectations for economic growth at the year's end.
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