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Healthcare sector top performer

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Nuvei ( NVEI ) jumps on takeover news

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TSX down 0.1%

(Updated at 10:05 a.m. ET/1405 GMT)

By Shubham Batra

March 18 (Reuters) -

Canadian shares started the week on a somber note, hurt by

losses in the communication services sector, while investors

waited for interest rate decisions from major central banks and

domestic inflation data later in the week.

At 10:05 a.m. ET (14:05 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's

S&P/TSX composite index was down 21.24 points, or

0.1%, at 21,827.91.

The communication services sector led sectoral

declines, falling 0.9% to hover around a four-month low, while

the healthcare shares rose 2.3% to hit a two-week

high.

Energy shares rose as much as 0.3% as Brent crude

briefly topped $86 per barrel on Monday for the first time since

November, before pulling back, as Ukraine stepped up its attacks

on Russian energy infrastructure.

The main event for the week will be the U.S. Federal

Reserve's interest rate decision, due on Wednesday, where the

central bank is widely expected to keep borrowing costs at a

multi-decade high, with money markets expecting the first rate

cut only in June.

"We expect the Fed to start cutting interest rates in June,

as an official acknowledgement that inflation has decelerated to

acceptable levels," said Glen Smith, chief investment officer at

GDS Wealth Management.

Canada's consumer prices data on Tuesday is expected show an

upswing in the domestic inflation rate in February, compared

with the previous month.

Across the border, the tech-heavy Nasdaq led gains amongst

Wall Street peers.

Nuvei ( NVEI ) was the top performer on the TSX, jumping

more than 25% after the Canadian payments processor said it was

evaluating go-private proposals.

The stock hit a seven-month high on the news.

(Reporting by Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim

Zahid and Anil D'Silva)