July 12 (Reuters) - Canada’s main stock index was flat on Monday, as losses in oil firms on weaker crude prices were countered by gains in technology shares and some defensive sectors. * At 09:35 a.m. ET (13:35 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 7.32 points, or 0.04%, at 20,250.63. * The energy sector dropped 1.7% as U.S. crude prices were down 1.1% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 1.1%. * The financials sector slipped 0.1%. The industrials sector fell 0.1%. * The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.4% as gold futures were down 0.6% at $1,799.5 an ounce. * The tech sector rose 0.3%, while the communications and utilities sectors added 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively. ** Investors will be focusing on the Canadian central bank’s policy meeting on Wednesday, when it is expected to taper its asset purchases again by C$1 billion to C$2 billion per week, according to a Reuters poll. * On the TSX, 66 issues were higher, while 150 issues declined for a 2.27-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 7.61 million shares traded. * The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Trisura Group Ltd, which jumped 3.8%, and Trillium Therape , which rose 1.1%. * Vermilion Energy fell 3.0%, the most on the TSX. The second-biggest decliner was Enerplus Corp, down 2.8%. * The most heavily traded shares by volume were Toronto-Dominion Bank, down 0.3%; Bombardier, up 1.5% and Harte Gold Corp, up 6.3%. * The TSX posted no new 52-week highs and no new lows. * Across all Canadian issues there were 68 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows, with total volume of 15.80 million shares. (Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.