TSX hits three-week low as golds dive in broad selloff

TORONTO (Aug 6)  Canada's main stock index slipped on Tuesday to its lowest in more than 3 weeks as positive economic news from Europe lowered the safe-haven appeal of gold and weighed on producers of the precious metal.

Nearly every major sector was down in light trading as Canadian stocks resumed after Monday's civic holiday.

Data showed German industry orders beat forecasts in June to record their biggest rise since October and British manufacturing grew much more strongly than expected in June.

The positive economic news pulled the price of bullion to a 2-1/2-week low and weighed on gold-mining stocks.

"There's still enough basic nervousness in the market that people are just as quick to pull the trigger as they ever were," said David Cockfield, managing director and portfolio manager at Northland Wealth Management.

"The market is just biding its time," he added. "We may not get a real direction until we get a few more people back in the saddle."

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index  was down 167.70 points, or 1.33 percent, at 12,435.55, its lowest since July 11.

Nine of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red.

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, lost 1 percent. Royal Bank of Canada, the country's biggest lender, gave back 1.7 percent to C$63.33 and had the biggest negative influence on the market.

The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, stumbled 3.4 percent, with gold miners down 4.7 percent.

Barrick Gold Corp declined 5.6 percent to C$16.39, and Goldcorp Inc slipped 5.1 percent to C$26.57.