(Updates with analyst comment, market open prices)

By Nikhil Sharma

Aug 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was flat on

Wednesday as declines in technology stocks offset gains in

commodity-linked shares, ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's

Jackson Hole symposium later this week.

At 9:58 a.m. ET (1358 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's

S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.05% at 27,836.41

points.

Heavyweight energy index boosted the main index by

rising 0.6%, tracking a jump in oil prices due to a reported

drop in U.S. crude inventories.

But the information tech sector dropped 1.3%, tracking falls

of U.S. technology stocks.

"TSX tends to follow what happens in the States. We've seen

at least a little bit more subdued returns in the S&P 500

recently," said Devin Cattelan, portfolio manager at Verecan

Capital Management.

"And a big part of that is a little bit of a rotation out of

some of these AI and technology stock names."

Expectations for U.S. policy easing will be tested by

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole

symposium on Friday.

Later on Wednesday, investors will also watch out for

minutes from the Fed's July policy meeting, where two officials

dissented from the majority "hold" verdict - the first such

split since 1993.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, traders are

pricing in at least two rate cuts by the end of 2025.

TSX's materials index led sectoral gains on

Wednesday, rising about 1.2%, as gold prices jumped against a

softer dollar ahead of Fed meeting minutes.

New home prices in Canada fell 0.1% in July, marking the

fourth consecutive monthly decrease.

Cooler domestic inflation data on Tuesday bolstered

expectations for the resumption of policy easing by the Bank of

Canada.

Money markets are expecting a 56.6% chance of a rate cut

on Oct. 29.