* At 9:49 a.m. ET (13:56 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 17.75 points, or 0.11%, at 15,621.66.

* The energy sector climbed 0.9% even as U.S. crude prices were down 0.5% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 0.1%.

* The financials sector slipped 0.2%. The industrials sector fell 0.1%.

* The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.4% as gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,806.2 an ounce.

* On the TSX, 91 issues were higher, while 122 issues declined for a 1.34-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 28.23 million shares traded.

* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Parklnd Corp, which jumped 2.6% and Innergex Renewable Energy Inc, which rose 2.4%.

* First Quantum Minerals Ltd fell 4.7%, the most on the TSX. The second biggest decliner was Teck Resources Ltd, down 3.7%.

* The most heavily traded shares by volume were The Toronto-Dominion Bank, down 0.5%; Zenabis Global Inc, which was flat and Nevada Copper Corp, down 18.9%.

* The TSX posted no new 52-week highs and no new lows.

* Across all Canadian issues there were 5 new 52-week highs and one new low, with total volume of 61.13 million shares.

(Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru)