March 5 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Thursday as retreating gold prices pulled down mining shares, while investors stayed cautious as the Middle East conflict entered its sixth day.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 0.54% at 33,758.51 points as of 10:05 a.m. ET.
The index had rebounded on Wednesday after a sharp selloff driven by fears that the U.S.-Israel war against Iran would lead to inflation.
"Markets are always shooting first and asking questions later. The algorithms are designed to pick negative headlines and when you get some of those negative headlines, that's what you get," said Allan Small, senior investment advisor at Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth.
Gold miners slipped more than 3% as spot gold declined 0.7%, giving up gains made early in the day. In the broader materials sector, base metal miners fell 3% as silver and copper prices also dropped.
Miners First Quantum Minerals and Ero Copper slipped more than 5% each.
The heavily weighted financial index fell 0.2%, while the communication services subindex slipped 0.9%.
Energy shares, however, were 1% higher as crude oil extended gains, with the Middle East conflict disrupting supplies and prompting some major producers to cut output.
Tech stocks climbed more than 3% led by enterprise software firm Kinaxis, which jumped 7.7% after strong customer expansion helped it beat quarterly revenue estimates.
The healthcare subindex also rose 0.6%.
Among other notable movers, oil and gas producer Canadian Natural Resources climbed 3.3% after fourth-quarter profit beat analysts' expectations.
(Reporting by Utkarsh Tushar Hathi; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Jonathan Ananda)
By Utkarsh Hathi
