Nov 27 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was flat on Thursday, as investors took a breather after a series of record highs this week, and declines in miners and financial stocks offset gains in energy.
At 9:53 a.m. ET (1453 GMT), Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), was flat at 31,174.84 points, after closing at a record high on Wednesday.
Trading is expected to be thin as markets in the United States were closed for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and would trade for a shorter period on Friday.
Investors also took a break after the TSX notched back-to-back record highs this week, as comments from some U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers and delayed economic data pointing to a weakening economy boosted bets on a December interest rate cut.
David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said that the comments would not have been so "explicitly dovish" without Chair Jerome Powell's "thumbs up", and the sudden shift in outlook suggests that the central bank was prioritising labor market concerns over inflation data.
In the market, the material sector (.GSPTTMT), housing Canadian miners, fell 0.5% to the bottom of the index, tracking a dip in gold and copper prices.
Heavyweight financial stocks (.SPTTFS), also fell 0.1%.
On the flip side, energy companies (.SPTTEN), gained 0.3% as oil prices inched higher.
"While commodities face periodic volatility, they can play a valuable role in portfolios ... returns are strongest when supply-demand imbalances or macroeconomic risks are elevated," said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management.
The TSX has largely been shielded from a global sell-off stemming from concerns over elevated tech valuations that knocked down major stock indexes last week, as value stocks such as energy and financials are heavyweights on the index.
It closed 0.6% lower for the week ended November 21, compared with a roughly 2% decline on the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), and Europe's STOXX 600 (.STOXX), .
Canada-listed shares of Hut 8 gained 1.1% tracking an over 1% gain in bitcoin .
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Alison Williams and Joe Bavier
