TORONTO, March 17 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index fell on Friday, dragged down by losses in financial and energy stocks as fears of a global banking meltdown continued to plague investors.

At provisional close, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) was down 152.83, or 0.77%, at 19,387.72, its second straight week of losses.

“People are worried about recession,” said Sean Oye, portfolio manager at Nicola Wealth Management. “In terms of recession, commodities and materials tend to sell off, and Canada’s exposed both to oil, commodities as well as heavily exposed to financials.”

Financial stocks (.SPTTFS), which make up the largest portion of the Canadian index, were down 1.8% while energy stocks (.SPTTEN) dropped 1.6%.

Fears of a banking crisis failed to subside even after several major U.S. banks offered a $30 billion lifeline for beleaguered First Republic Bank (FRC.N), while Credit Suisse also received an emergency liquidity line from the Swiss central bank.

Technology stocks also fell 0.2% on.

Pot stocks, such as Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) and Cronos Group (CRON.TO), fell in a broader sell-off, dragging the healthcare index (.GSPTTHC) down 1.3%.

Bucking the trend, the utilities (.GSPTTUT) and materials sector (.GSPTTMT), which includes precious and base metal miners and fertilizer companies, gained 0.2% and 3.3% respectively.

Reporting by Maiya Keidan
Editing by Marguerita Choy

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