TORONTO, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock market dropped for a fifth straight session on Thursday, nearing a three-month low, as sluggish U.S. economic data weighed on sentiment and doubts were raised about the liquefied natural gas project in the western province of British Columbia.

 

Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 226.97 points or 1.5 percent to 14,893.57 points, with the gains of healthcare stocks overpowered by the losses in all other seven sectors. The index was below 15,000 points for the first time since late June.

 

Info-tech shares were the biggest decliners on the Toronto exchange, down 2.41 points to 40.55 Canadian dollars. CGI Group Inc. dropped 1.87 percent to 37.34 Canadian dollars and Open Text Corporation lost 1.35 percent to 60.85 Canadian dollars.

 

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, declined 1.97 percent. Out of the country's five biggest banks, CIBC suffered the biggest loss, as its shares took back 3.27 percent to 101.53 Canadian dollars. Toronto-Dominion Bank tumbled 2.78 percent to 54.85 Canadian dollars, and Bank of Nova Scotia shed 1.71 percent to 68.91 Canadian dollars.

 

Shares of energy producers were down 2.07 percent to 289.27 Canadian dollars. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. declined 2.06 percent to 43.21 Canadian dollars, and Suncor Energy Inc. fell 1.37 percent to 40.29 Canadian dollars.

 

However, health care shares gained 0.39 percent to 96.78 Canadian dollars. Valeant Pharmaceuticals were up 3.18 percent to 141.66 Canadian dollars after the Canadian drug maker continues to build its case to investors for a takeover of Botox-maker Allergan.

 

In corporate news, it is reported that Malaysia's Petronas oil and gas group might pull the plug on the 10-billion-dollar LNG project in B.C. because its economic viability is threatened by new taxes and competition from U.S. shale gas projects.

 

Meanwhile, the Canadian federal government weighed in on the prospect of a housing crisis. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Wednesday he did not anticipate a housing crisis in Canada, where some analysts are fretting about high debt levels.

 

On Thursday, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Timothy Lane said Canadian monetary policy can diverge from that of its neighbor, as the U.S. Federal Reserve's exit from its stimulus measures will likely raise market interest rates in Canada and weigh on the loonie.

 

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar closed lower at 0.9003 U.S. dollars from 0.9044 U.S. dollars Wednesday.