Jan 19 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slipped on Friday and was set for weekly losses as investors were cautious ahead of a Bank of Canada meeting next week, while domestic retail sales surprisingly declined in November.
At 10:46 a.m. ET (1546 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), opens new tab was down 36.87 points, or 0.18%, at 20,719.86.
For the week, the benchmark stock index is set to lose 1.3%.
The materials sector (.GSPTTMT), opens new tab led declines, falling 0.7%, and was set to become the biggest weekly loser amongst the sectors.
Canada posted a surprise 0.2% month-on-month decline in retail sales in November, data showed on Friday, with consumers strained by high-interest rates and sticky inflation.
"We did see weaker sales in November, but the preliminary estimate for December still suggests that sales grew at a decent pace over the course of the fourth quarter", said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.
Investors will be keenly watching the much-awaited BoC meeting in the upcoming week to gauge the central bank's intentions for rate cuts.
The Bank of Canada will wait until at least June to cut its key interest rate as price pressures remain sticky, according to a firm majority of economists in a Reuters poll.
"It's going to come down to the language and how they think. Markets are looking for rate cuts at some point, but the timing is what could be a source of volatility", Kourkafas added.
Investors are now pricing in about a 23% chance of interest rate cuts by the BoC in March.
Amongst individual stocks, real estate firm Tricon Residential (TCN.TO), opens new tab jumped 27.6% to become the top gainer after Investment management company Blackstone agreed to take the company private for $3.5 billion.
Richelieu Hardware (RCH.TO), opens new tab declined 4.7% after it was downgraded to "sector perform" from "outperform" by the National Bank of Canada.
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid
