CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls ahead of U.S. Fed meeting outcome

Updates prices, adds sector details

March 17 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision, while data showed domestic inflation numbers edged higher in February.

* At 9:36 a.m. ET (13:36 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 25.48 points, or 0.14%, at 18,848.53.

* The Fed ends a closely anticipated two-day meeting later in the day. It is expected to forecast that the U.S. economy will grow in 2021 at the fastest rate in decades, but investors who expect rosier projections to translate to any change in monetary policy will probably be disappointed. nL1N2L82OT

* Domestic inflation edged higher in February on rising gasoline prices, though the slight acceleration was below analyst expectations, data showed. nL1N2LF14V

* The energy sector .SPTTEN climbed 0.4%, while the materials sector .GSPTTMT, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.6%. O/R GOL/

* On the TSX, 64 issues advanced, while 142 issues declined in a 2.22-to-1 ratio favoring losers, with 16.39 million shares traded.

* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Westshore Terminals Investment Corp , which jumped 8.7% after the marine port service provider announced dividend, and oil producer MEG Energy Corp , which rose 2.2%.

* IT services provider Lightspeed POS Inc fell 3.3%, the most on the TSX, while the second biggest decliner was renewable energy firm Boralex Inc , down 2.4%.

* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Hydro One Ltd , Canadian Natural Resources Limited and Xebec Adsorption Inc .

* The TSX posted seven new 52-week highs and no new low.

* Across Canadian issues, there were 32 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, with total volume of 30.38 million shares.

(Reporting by Amal S in Bengaluru;
Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)

((Amal.S@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S.+1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 3677;))