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TSX ends down 0.2% at 29,756.95

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Materials group falls 0.8% as gold pulls back

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Energy gains 1.3% as oil settles up 2.5%

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Lithium Americas ( LAC ) shares jump 97.9%

(Updates at market close)

By Fergal Smith

Sept 24 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index edged

lower on Wednesday, weighed by declines for financial and metal

mining shares, as the approach of the end of the quarter spurred

investors to take stock of recent strong gains for the market.

The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 58.68

points, or 0.2%, at 29,756.95, extending its pullback from a

record closing high on Monday. Still, the index was on track for

a gain of 10.8% in the third quarter, which would be its fifth

straight quarterly advance.

U.S. stocks also closed lower for a second straight session

as investors booked profits with indexes near record levels

after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell flagged potentially

stretched stock prices and ahead of a reading on inflation later

in the week.

"Markets have gone up so much that they were due for a

rest," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA

Wealth Management. "We're getting close to the end of the month

and the end of the quarter and there's been nothing new in the

way of news to keep the market going."

Heavily weighted financials lost 0.7% and the materials

group, which includes fertilizer companies and metal

mining shares, was down 0.8%. The price of gold declined

0.9%, pulling back from a record high.

Among the sectors that notched gains was energy. It

was up 1.3%, with shares of Vermilion Energy ( VET ) adding

2.9%. The price of oil settled 2.5% higher at $64.99 a

barrel after a surprise drop in U.S. crude inventories added to

the market's sense of tightening supplies.

Lithium Americas ( LAC ) shares jumped 97.9% after Reuters

reported that the Trump administration is seeking up to a 10%

stake in the lithium company. It was the latest sign of

Washington's intervention in industries it considers critical to

national security.