* TSX closes up by 1% in broader gains

* Canadian inflation falls to 1.8% in Feb

(Updates with market closing data.)

By Purvi Agarwal and Rashika Singh

March 16 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed

higher on Monday, after three sessions of declines, as investors

took cues from Wall Street and welcomed a pullback in oil

prices, even as the war in the Middle East raged on.

At the closing trade the S&P/TSX composite index

closed up 1.03% at 32,876.65 points. The index recorded its

biggest daily gain since February 26, before the conflict began.

Oil prices retreated amid attacks on Gulf oil production and

U.S. President Donald Trump's call for a global effort to secure

the Strait of Hormuz, though both crude benchmarks remain up

more than 40% this month, and are at their highest levels since

2022.

The pullback in oil prices lifted broader risk appetite, with

all sectors on the TSX trading higher. But it was particularly

the construction, gold and critical mineral mining companies

that stood apart. Even energy stocks closed up 0.64%,

after hitting their highest level since September 2008 in the

previous session.

"Due to fears of oil-induced inflation and a potential global

slowdown, stocks are currently inversely correlated with oil

prices... This coupling is temporary and provides an opportunity

to investors to increase selective stock exposure at favorable

valuations," said Richard Saperstein, chief investment officer,

Treasury Partners.

As a net oil exporter, Canada may be better shielded than many

peers from the conflict-driven oil spike, offering some cushion

as other indicators cool.

Meanwhile, information technology stocks closed up

1.4%, tracking robust gains on the tech-heavy U.S. Nasdaq.

Shares of miners rose 1.7%, even as metal prices

vacillated between gains and losses. On Monday

shares of Quebec based 5N Plus ( FPLSF ) a manufacturer of high

end semiconductors and critical minerals such as antimony closed

up 4.78%, the top mover at the end of trading day was reality

service provider Altus Group ( ASGTF ) that closed up 9% as it announced a

buyback of shares.

This week, investors will look to the U.S. Federal Reserve and

the Bank of Canada for cues on the central banks' monetary

policy outlook, as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran stokes inflation

worries, clouding the prospects for rate cuts.

Economists polled by Reuters expect the BoC to keep its

overnight rate unchanged next week and through the rest of the

year, for now looking past inflation risks stemming from the

Middle East war.

Separately, data showed Canada's annual inflation rate eased to

1.8% in February.