Canadian stock market continues decline

TORONTO, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock index continued falling Friday due to declines in financial and industrial shares and fears of a global trade war.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & TSX composite index dropped 176.19 points, or 1.14 percent to close the day at 15,223.74, the lowest close since Feb. 13. Eight of the index's 10 main groups ended lower.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.37 cents at 0.78 U.S. dollar.

The financials sector fell 1.6 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank dipped 2.3 percent to 73.21 Canadian dollars. Royal Bank of Canada declined 1.4 percent to 99.21 Canadian dollars.

Industrials fell 1.4 percent as railroad shares lost ground.

The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, gained 0.6 percent.

Techs suffered, as BlackBerry lost 3.3 percent, to 16.03 Canadian dollars while Constellation Software backtracked 1.2 percent to 862.11 Canadian dollars. Enditem