By Nichola Saminather
TORONTO, March 15 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index erased most early gains to close little changed on Thursday, as increases in energy shares were offset by declines in metals.
* The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE closed up 17.01 points, or 0.11 points, at 15,670.62. Seven of the 10 major sector groups were in positive territory.
* Magna International Inc MG.TO was the biggest gainer on the index, up as much as 4.3 percent to C$72.79, a two-week high, after the auto parts maker said on Wednesday it would invest $200 million in U.S. ride-hailing company Lyft Inc and work with it to manufacture self-driving cars. Energy companies including Spartan Energy Corp SPE.TO , Seven Generations Energy VII.TO and Raging River Exploration RRX.TO were among the 10 biggest gainers, rising 6.3 percent, 4.6 percent and 2.9 percent respectively.
* U.S. crude futures CLc1 advanced 0.4 percent to $61.21 a barrel.
* Element Fleet Management was the biggest decliner on the index, sliding 24.4 percent to C$3.87, its lowest since December 2011, after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst expectations and saying it expected to incur a restructuring charge of about C$40 million ($30.65 million) in the first quarter. Miners Ivanhoe Mines IVN.TO , Klondex Mines KDX.TO and Detour Gold DGC.TO were among the biggest decliners, falling 13.1 percent, 11.2 percent and 3.1 percent respectively.
* Gold futures GCcv1 dropped 0.7 percent to $1,316.30 an ounce. Copper futures CMCU3 lost 0.95 percent to $6,922 a tonne.
* The Democratic Republic of Congo is considering adding copper to its list of strategic minerals in a move that would extract higher fees from mining companies, an adviser to the prime minister said on Thursday. The TSX had 135 advancing issues and 111 declining ones, while four were flat. ($1 = 1.3052 Canadian dollars)