March 19 (Reuters) - Canada’s main stock index fell on Monday, led by the energy sector as oil prices slipped, and investors were cautious ahead of a near-certain U.S. interest rate hike this week.

* At 12:29 p.m. ET (1629 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 123.05 points, or 0.78 percent, to 15,588.28.

 

* Oil prices slipped on Monday as energy market investors remained wary of growing crude supply, although tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran gave prices some support.

 

* The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 400 points as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, which concludes on Wednesday.

* Canadian tech stocks were lower on Monday, tracking a deep selloff in U.S. tech sector after Facebook fell 7.7 percent following reports of data misuse.

* The TSX posted no new 52-week highs and 4 new lows. Across all Canadian issues there were 8 new 52-week highs and 15 new lows.

* The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Novagold , which rose 9.0 percent, while the largest decliner was B2gold Corp, down 5.3 percent.

* Among the most active Canadian stocks by volume were Neovasc Inc, down 5.7 percent at $0.17; Aurora Cannabis, up 0.3 percent at $10.98 and Klondex Mines , up 61.1 percent at $2.90.

 

* Gold miner Klondex was up after U.S. miner Hecla Mining Co said it would buy the company in a $462 mln cash-and-stock deal.

* Volume on the TSX index was 82.07 million shares, while total volume on Monday was 139.28 million shares. (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Medha Singh in Bengaluru Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

SOURCE: REUTERS