(Adds trader and portfolio manager comments, updates prices)
* TSX ends down 4.05 points, or 0.03 percent, at 15,379.75
* Shaw jumps 3.1 pct after data center sale, airwave buy
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, June 13 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index inched lower on Tuesday, weighed by slips among heavyweight financial stocks and losses for some base metal miners, while Shaw Communications Inc SJRb.TO gained after deals to sell its data center business and buy wireless airwaves.
Shaw was the most influential gainer on the index, ending up 3.1 percent at C$29.42 after saying it would sell its ViaWest subsidiary for $1.675 billion, while the majority-owner of the company that sold Shaw the spectrum, Quebecor Inc QBRb.TO , also gained 3.1 percent, to C$41.86. telecom group lost 0.5 percent, with BCE Inc BCE.TO down 0.7 percent at C$59.45, after the departing head of the country's telecom and broadcast regulator said his as-yet unnamed replacement may have to intervene in wireless markets to stoke competition. financials group slipped 0.2 percent, with Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO down 0.4 percent to C$93.89 and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM.TO off 0.6 percent at C$106.16.
"They (Canadian banks) had a pretty good run late last week, with a flight to quality it seems a lot of the fast money came out of tech and got parked in the banks temporarily," said Bruce Latimer, a trader at Eight Capital.
A bounce back in U.S. technology stocks after a sharp two-day decline helped several Wall Street indices close at record highs. .N
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE ended down 4.05 points, or 0.03 percent, at 15,379.75.
Investors seem to be engaged in "under the surface sector rotation" at the moment, said Mike Archibald, associate portfolio manager at AGF Investments. "To me, it's reflective that there is still a good amount of uncertainty by most market participants right now," he said.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd FM.TO fell 4 percent to C$11.43 and Hudbay Minerals Inc HBM.TO lost 4.9 percent to C$7.23, which Archibald ascribed to positioning ahead of Chinese economic data due out overnight.
Energy stocks ended 0.4 percent higher overall, with Encana Corp ECA.TO up 2.1 percent at C$12.84.
Sears Canada Inc SCC.TO sank 23.7 percent to 87 Canadian cents after the retailer flagged doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern and said it was exploring strategic options, including a sale of the company. rate cuts instituted in 2015 have largely done their job as the Canadian economy gathers momentum, the Bank of Canada's head said on Tuesday, the second top official in as many days to set the stage for eventual rate hikes. (Editing by James Dalgleish and Lisa Shumaker)