TSX falls as resource stocks pull back

By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Friday, erasing the week's gains with a pullback in energy and banking stocks as well as slips in telecom and consumer staples names offsetting modest gains for industrial and materials stocks. The index lost 0.2 percent on the week, with the Friday funk undoing earlier gains helped by rallying oil and gold prices. "It was a wonderful week, energy was strong, gold was strong, the Canadian dollar firmed and there was a much more buoyant mood. It's just inevitable profit-taking," said John Ing, president of Maison Placements Canada. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> ended down 124.23 points, or 0.91 percent, at 13,497.07. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc plunged 9.7 percent to C$34.93 as investors pulled out as it faced tough demands from creditors and a sharply lower revenue outlook. The energy group fell 1.4 percent as oil prices retreated from 2016 highs after a U.S oil rig count rose for the first time since December. [O/R] TransCanada Corp fell 0.7 percent to C$49.08 after the company said it will buy Columbia Pipeline Group for $10.2 billion, creating one of North America's largest regulated natural gas transmission businesses. The heavyweight financials group slipped 0.7 percent, while utilities fell 1 percent and consumer staples lost 2.2 percent. Convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard declined 3.5 percent to C$56.83. Shares in BRP Inc , the maker of Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Sea-Doo watercraft, jumped 17.9 percent to C$18.95 after its adjusted earnings beat expectations and it forecast higher revenue. Eight of the index's 10 main groups were in negative territory, with decliners outnumbering advancers by 1.8-to-1. Canadian Pacific Railway was among the most influential gainers, rising 3.1 percent to C$174.42. The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, gained 0.1 percent, while industrials were barely positive. Canadian retail sales rebounded strongly in January, while separate data showed a slowdown in the annual inflation rate in February, weighed by a drop in gasoline prices. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by James Dalgleish and Meredith Mazzilli)