TORONTO (Bloomberg) - Canadian stocks fell, led by EnCana Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp., as retreating crude-oil and metals prices pulled energy and raw-materials producers lower.

Royal Bank of Canada paced gains among financial shares after reporting better profit than some analysts estimated even as it posted writedowns on sub-prime debt investments and increased loan losses in the US.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index fell 0.8 percent to 14,577.17 in Toronto. The Canadian benchmark has retreated 3.1 percent after a rally in energy and materials shares pushed it to a record 15,047.34 on May 20. The S&P/TSX is still up 5.4 percent for the year.

"Money's moving out of the commodities into financials," said Keith Summers, who oversees about $900 million as chief investment officer at Stonegate Private Counsel in Toronto. "Commodities are very volatile. They went up so fast; it's not surprising to see them deflate a bit. The banks are not going broke."

EnCana, the country's largest energy company by market value, retreated 2.7 percent to C$88.41. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Canada's second-largest natural-gas producer, dropped 3.7 percent to C$95.25. Suncor Energy Inc., the world's second-largest oil- sands miner, fell 2.9 percent to C$66.89.

Crude oil for July delivery fell 3.3 percent to $126.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on signs that record prices in the US will prompt consumers to reduce fuel purchases. Natural gas prices also retreated. Oil has doubled in a year, reaching a record $135.09 on May 22. Gas has gained 49 percent in 2008.

Gold tumbled the most in six weeks as the US dollar rallied, reducing the appeal of the metal and other commodities as investments. Copper, zinc, soybeans and wheat fell.

Measures of energy and materials stocks fell 2.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, yesterday, while a gauge of financial companies advanced 1.2 percent. The three groups account for more than three-quarters of the S&P/TSX's value.

Barrick Gold Corp., the biggest bullion miner, fell 3.9 percent to C$38.77. Smaller rival Goldcorp Inc. dropped 3.4 percent to C$39.10.

Teck Cominco Ltd., Canada's largest publicly traded miner of copper and zinc, retreated 4.4 percent to C$47.41.

Royal Bank gained 2.2 percent to C$50.53. Canada's largest bank said profit fell for a second straight quarter on writedowns for debt investments tied to the US sub-prime mortgages. Net income in the second quarter fell 27 percent to C$928 million, or 70 cents a share, the Toronto-based bank said today.

National Bank Financial analyst Robert Sedran said Royal Bank earned C$1.03 a share excluding one-time items, beating his estimate of C$1.01 a share on that measure.