Jan 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday, including losses for the financial and materials sectors, as investors took stock of recent gains that had lifted the market to a 20-month high.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) ended down 103.93 points, or 0.5%, at 20,970.98, after posting on Monday its highest closing level since May 2022.
"It's still a rebalancing of portfolios following the very strong rally that we saw in November, December of last year," said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
Investors are waiting to see the tone that is set by the Bank of Canada, the Federal Reserve and U.S. earnings season, Petursson added.
U.S. benchmark the S&P 500 also slipped as investors assess the timing and size of Fed interest rate cuts in 2024 ahead of inflation data on Thursday. U.S. earnings season unofficially begins on Friday.
Financials, the TSX's most heavily-weighted sector, lost 1.2% and the materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, was down 1.5% as copper prices fell.
Still, shares of K92 Mining Inc (KNT.TO) ended 9.7% higher after the company reported record quarterly gold production and named a new chief operating officer.
Information technology was the only major sector to notch gains. It rose 1%, adding to the sharp gains it posted on Monday.
Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Amruta Khandekar and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Alistair Bell
