Goldcorp, SNC-Lavalin slumps push TSX lower

By John Tilak

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Thursday, hurt by sharp selloffs in Goldcorp Inc (Toronto:G.TO - News) and SNC-Lavalin Group Inc (Toronto:SNC.TO - News).

Goldcorp, the world's biggest gold producer by market value, posted a hefty loss as it took a $2.3 billion impairment charge on a new mine in Argentina, the second multibillion-dollar writedown from a top gold miner in as many days.

The stock tumbled 7.9 percent to C$26.65, dragging the gold-mining sector down 2 percent.

Shares of SNC-Lavalin Group (Toronto:SNC.TO - News) tumbled 7.1 percent to C$40.63 after Canadian police laid corruption charges against the company and some of its units in relation to their operations in Libya.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) ended down 32.42 points, or 0.21 percent, at 15,180.33. Six of the 10 main sectors on the index retreated.

Oil prices have remained under pressure since Wednesday, following a strong rebound from multi-year lows hit in January. The crude slump has hit Canada's index hard, given the large number of producers listed here.

"I don’t know if we've found a bottom yet. There's potential to retest lows," said Kevin Headland, director for capital

markets and strategy at Manulife Asset Management.

Crescent Point Energy Co (Toronto:CPG.TO - News) fell 3.8 percent to C$30.77 and pipeline operator TransCanada Corp (Toronto:TRP.TO - News) declined 0.7 percent to C$56.16.

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, were lower overall. Royal Bank of Canada (Toronto:RY.TO - News) added 0.6 percent to C$77.23 while Toronto-Dominion Bank slipped 0.3 percent to C$54.45.

(Additional reporting and writing by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Bernadette Baum)