March 7 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index tumbled on Tuesday as shares of miners and energy firms were pulled lower by concerns around demand from China, while hawkish remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve chief further strained sentiment.
At 10:23 a.m. ET (15:23 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) was down 147.61 points, or 0.72%, at 20,367.19.
Energy shares (.SPTTEN) fell 0.7% and materials (.GSPTTMT) shed 2%, tracking commodity prices lower, after China's weak trade data followed its modest annual growth target on Monday.
"In addition to what we saw yesterday in terms of the target GDP growth rate lower than the high range, we have trade data which is also impacting the materials and energy sector in Canada," said Christine Tan, portfolio manager at SLGI Asset Management.
In a testimony before the United States Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's said the central bank would likely need to raise interest rates more than expected in response to recent strong data to control inflation.
Although the TSX waded through losses during a volatile February, the bourse is eyeing gains of 6% for the current quarter.
The tech sector (.SPTTTK) slipped 0.7, dragged down by an 11.6% drop in BlackBerry Inc (BB.TO) after the software firm's lower-than-expected annual sales forecast.
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers (RBA.TO) said it would pay a special dividend of $1.08 per share to its investors if they back its $7-billion deal for U.S. auto retailer IAA Inc (IAA.N). However, the asset management firm fell 0.6%
On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada is expected to hit pause on its monetary tightening policy in its rate-setting meeting.
