By Avinash P

Nov 17 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was little

changed on Monday, as investors digested a local inflation

print, while caution swept across markets ahead of Nvidia's

results and the resumption of U.S. government data releases.

At 9:55 a.m. ET, Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index

was down 0.05% at 30,312.21 points.

Technology and energy shares led the rebound last week,

helping the index snap a two-week losing streak and deliver a

weekly gain of 1.4% - the strongest since late September.

Canada's annual inflation rate eased to 2.2% in October,

official data showed. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast

the inflation to be at 2.1%.

The country's inflation has spent most of 2025 hugging the

Bank of Canada's sweet spot, but the recent uptick is a reminder

that price pressures are not fully tamed.

After a soft patch earlier this year, headline CPI climbed

back to 2.4% in September. Core gauges remain around the 3%

level, underscoring why policymakers are not rushing to declare

victory - and why rate-cut bets may stay on ice a little longer.

"The modest upside surprise to headline inflation in October

was largely due to one-off factors. That lends some support to

our view that the Bank of Canada will eventually feel

comfortable in cutting interest rates further", said Stephen

Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital

Economics.

"The good news for the Bank is that the price rises were

concentrated in a narrow range of items. The Bank is

overestimating underlying inflation pressures."

Investors now look forward to a speech by BoC Deputy

Governor Nicolas Vincent on Wednesday and Thursday's U.S. jobs

data, which could do little more than confirm earlier private

market surveys showing the labor market had slowed.

In corporate news, Reuters reported that the board of

Canada's Barrick Mining ( B ) has raised the possibility of

splitting the company into two separate entities, citing sources

close to the company. Shares were up 1%.

Stantec's ( STN ) shares fell 3.7% after brokerage Stifel

cut its target price on the engineering service provider to

C$169 from C$175.

(Reporting by Avinash P and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru;

Editing by Shreya Biswas

)