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TSX slips as energy gains offset by financials, industrials

A man walks past an old Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) sign in Toronto, June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Monday, weighed by financial, industrial and healthcare stocks that canceled out energy gains after the country's main oil-producing province unveiled a plan to tax carbon emissions and Saudi Arabia vowed to support oil prices. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> settled down 51.11 points, or 0.38 percent, at 13,382.38. Six of its 10 main groups fall. The move lower came after a recent bump up from near 13,000 to above 13,500, and included a 3.3 percent decline in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc to C$117.08 and a 0.5 percent slip for the heavyweight financials group. "I think the trend is going to be what we've seen through this year, it's going to be grind higher then be knocked down, then grind a little higher and be knocked down," said Philip Petursson, managing director for capital markets and strategy at Manulife Asset Management. Shares in power generation company TransAlta Corp were halted in the last half hour of trade up 9.4 percent at C$5.96. The company later said it would receive a C$540 million investment from TransAlta Renewables, which it spun off in 2013 but in which it continues to hold a majority stake. It had earlier cheered the Alberta government's move to phase out coal-fired generation by 2030, a timeline it said would not "strand capital". The province, home to the country's controversial oil sands, said on Sunday it will implement an economy-wide tax on carbon emissions in 2017. Capital Power Corp , which also operates in Alberta, fell 10.3 percent to C$16.82. Other energy names appeared to benefit from a Saudi statement saying it would cooperate with other producers to achieve market stability, days before the OPEC group meets to review its year-long policy of not supporting prices. Cenovus Energy Inc gained 2.3 percent to C$19.96 and Encana Corp advanced 3.5 percent to C$10.67. The overall energy group added 0.9 percent. On the other side of the ledger, Royal Bank of Canada slipped 0.8 percent to C$75.49 and Manulife Financial Corp gave up 0.9 percent to C$21.67. Canadian National Railway fell 1.6 percent to C$79.12, while the overall industrials group lost 0.8 percent. Shares in Manitoba Telecom Services advanced 5.5 percent to C$30.15 after it announced a deal to sell its Allstream national fiber-optic network. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Tom Brown)