TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index fell for a second straight session yesterday, knocked down by weak US consumer confidence data that cast doubt on the strength of the economic recovery.

US consumer confidence fell to a 10-month low in February, which added to skittishness about the economy that was spurred by numbers earlier in the day that showed US home prices dipped unexpectedly in December.

Top heavyweight decliners came from the index's three biggest sectors, financials, oil and gas, and materials.

The three collectively account for about three-quarters of the index's weighting. These sectors were also behind the recent eight-day run of gains.

"We went down right off the get-go. We were due for a down day," said John Kinsey, portfolio manager at Caldwell Securities Ltd.

Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.97 percent to C$56.05, while Suncor Energy shed 2.2 percent to C$30.85. Cenovus Energy tumbled 3.4 percent to C$25.79, while Goldcorp. lost 3.15 percent to C$38.45.

The US data helped to weaken key commodity prices, which pressured the materials and oil and gas groups, and led both sectors down sharply as oil broke a five-day rally to drop below $79 a barrel, while gold also lost ground.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended 108.04 points, or 0.93 percent, lower at 11,526.71. Six of the index's 10 main groups were lower.

The Canadian dollar fell against its US counterpart yesterday, dragged down by sagging commodity prices and rising risk aversion after data cast doubt on the strength of the US economic recovery.

Figures released yesterday showed an unexpected drop in US home prices for December and a steep drop in US consumer confidence in February.