* TSX down 0.7%
* Materials shares lead declines
* Primo Water enters merger deal; shares gain
June 17 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slipped on Monday as materials and utilities shares fell, while investors awaited fresh U.S. economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials this week.
At 10:27 a.m. ET (1427 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 142.96 points, or 0.66%, at 21,496.14, hovering around its three-month low.
The materials sector fell 1.1% to its lowest level in more than a month, tracking a decline in gold and copper prices.
Rate-sensitive technology and utilities shares fell 1.2% each.
The consumer staples and consumer discretionary sectors were the only outliers, noting gains of 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.
The overall index extended losses from Friday's session, where it hit a three-month low and logged a weekly decline of 1.7%, its biggest drop since October 2023.
While traders await more clarity on the monetary policy timeline from Fed officials after they projected only one cut this year, the Bank of Canada had indicated more rate cuts if inflation continued to ease.
Investors this week are also looking at domestic retail sales numbers due Friday.
"We know obviously just where inflation is, and there is some stress that consumers are feeling. Data points will matter as we continue to move through the back half of the year," said Mike Archibald, portfolio manager at AGF Investments.
"We still think that there's likelihood of more cuts coming, which will help the consumer and hopefully the financial (sectors)."
Among Canadian stocks, shares of Primo Water rose 6.8% to the top of the benchmark index after the packaged water company entered a merger agreement with peer Bluetrition. (Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
