Canada's main stock index fell on Monday but was still set for its fifth straight month of gains amid historic global stimulus and optimism around a post-pandemic economic rebound.

At 9:57 a.m. ET (1357 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 116.84 points, or 0.7%, at 16,588.95.

On Friday, Statistics Canada said in a flash estimate that the country's real GDP is likely to climb 3% in July, edging economic activity closer to pre-pandemic levels.

The energy sector dropped 2.2% as oil prices steadied, with Brent slipping from a five-month high as global demand struggles to return to pre-COVID levels in a well supplied market.

The financials sector slipped 1.0%. The industrials sector fell 0.5%.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.2% even as gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,960.7 an ounce.

On the TSX, 62 issues were higher, while 156 issues declined for a 2.52-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 24.80 million shares traded.

The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Novagold Resources, which jumped 4.1% and ECN Capital Corp , which rose 3.5%.

Seven Generations Energy fell 4.5%, the most on the TSX, while the second biggest decliner was InterRent Reit , down 4.1%.

The most heavily-traded shares by volume were SOPerior Fertilizer, Whitecap Resources and Zenabis Global Inc.

The TSX posted three new 52-week highs and no new lows.

Across all Canadian issues, there were 27 new 52-week highs and no new lows, with total volume of 56.67 million shares.