(Updates with morning prices)

By Ragini Mathur

Oct 7 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was nearly

flat on Tuesday, taking a breather after its recent

record-breaking rally, as focus shifted to Prime Minister Mark

Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting scheduled later

in the day.

Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index was down 0.1% at

30,502.53 points, after seven consecutive sessions of gains and

multiple record highs.

Carney is making his second visit to the White House in five

months, facing increasing pressure to address U.S. tariffs on

steel, autos and other goods hurting Canada's economy.

A Canadian government official and several analysts,

however, played down the chances of an imminent trade deal with

Trump.

"Our focus has shifted onto the fact that our Prime Minister

is visiting Mr. Trump today to presumably talk about tariffs but

I'm not sure that the market is expecting too much to come out

of that", said Michael Sprung, president at Sprung Investment

Management.

On TSX, nine out of ten sectors were trading in the red,

with consumer staples leading the declines, falling

0.8%.

Sprung added that investors might be a bit more defensive

and consider "taking a little bit off the table" where there are

significant profits.

On the positive side, information technology stocks

rose 0.8%, building on the gains from the previous

session.

Healthcare sector also rose 1.6% after declining

in the previous two sessions.

With the U.S. government shutdown ongoing and a dearth of

fresh economic data, investors will be closely monitoring

Federal Reserve commentary from officials, including Vice Chair

Michelle Bowman and several regional Fed presidents.

Market participants are also awaiting this week's Canadian

employment report, which will provide crucial insights into the

country's economic health and likely influence the Bank of

Canada's upcoming monetary policy decisions.