March 18 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index ended lower on Monday as some of the interest-rate sensitive sectors, such as utilities, lost ground ahead of a policy decision this week by the Federal Reserve.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), opens new tab ended down 11.97 points, or 0.1%, at 21,837.18, but staying within reach of a near two-year high it posted last Wednesday at 21,970.11.
U.S. central bankers are not expected to cut borrowing costs at a policy announcement on Wednesday but their new economic projections may be a wild card.
"Investors may look to the forecasts particularly closely for signs of whether the U.S. central bank is sticking to its previous forecast of three interest rate cuts this year or not," Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, said in a note.
The Canadian 10-year yield touched a one-month high at 3.612% ahead of the Fed decision.
Investors were also awaiting domestic inflation data on Tuesday that could offer clues on the Bank of Canada's policy outlook. Economists expect inflation to rise to an annual rate of 3.1% in February from 2.9% in January.
High-dividend paying telecom and utilities companies could particularly benefit from lower borrowing costs.
The utilities sector fell 0.8% and communication services was down 0.7%. The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, was also a drag, falling 0.7%.
In contrast, energy added 0.9% as the price of oil rose to a four-month high on lower crude exports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia and signs of stronger demand and economic growth in China and the United States. U.S. crude futures settled 2.1% higher at $82.72 a barrel.
Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO), opens new tab shares were also a standout, jumping 32.3% after the payments processor said it was evaluating go-private proposals.
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Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid, Anil D'Silva and Sharon Singleton
