*

TSX ends down 0.1% at 24,439.08

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Energy slides 4.8%; oil settles 4.4% lower

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Canada's annual inflation rate slows to 1.6%

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Utilities sector climbs 1.9%

(Updates at market close)

By Nikhil Sharma and Fergal Smith

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Canada's commodity-linked main stock

index fell on Tuesday as a drop in oil prices offset

cooler-than-expected inflation data that bolstered expectations

for an outsized interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index

ended down 32.09 points, or 0.1%, at 24,439.08 after

notching on Friday a record closing high.

"Canada remains vulnerable to selling pressure related to

the selloff in the price of oil," said Colin Cieszynski, chief

market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.

U.S. crude oil futures settled 4.4% lower at $70.58 a

barrel after a media report said Israel would not strike Iranian

nuclear and oil sites, easing fears of a supply disruption.

The energy sector tumbled 4.8%, with Canadian Natural

Resources Ltd ( CNQ ), Canada's largest oil and gas producer,

down 5.7%. Technology also lost ground, falling 0.5%.

Canada's annual inflation rate slowed more than expected to

1.6% in September, prompting investors to price in a 74% chance

of a 50-basis-point rate cut by the BoC next week, up from 50%

before the data.

"The inflation number kind of helps, but Canadian markets

don't always trade-off of Canadian economic data," Cieszynski

said.

The real estate and utilities sectors, which include many

high-dividend paying stocks that could particularly benefit from

a faster pace of rate cuts, added 1.4% and 1.9% respectively.

Healthcare also notched gains, rising 2.1%, led by a 5.7%

jump in the shares of pharmaceutical company Bausch Health

Companies Inc. ( BHC )