TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index slipped early on Friday, undercut by falling gold stocks and other mining issues as the prices of the underlying metals tumbled.
The S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> was up 24.43 points, or 0.2 percent, at 13,381.35.
The materials sector was the biggest drag, down 1 percent.
Eight of the index's 10 biggest weighted losers were miners,
led by Barrick Gold
Spot gold was off nearly $20 at $926.69 an ounce while a measure of base metal prices was down more than 1 percent.
The TSX's overall decline would have been worse if not for
a jump in the shares of Research In Motion
The consumer staples group was the best performer, up 0.7 percent.
(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; editing by Janet Guttsman)
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