Gains in railways and a surge in Hudson's Bay Co, which outlined a $1.25 billion refinancing plan, gave investors some cause for cheer even as the index edged lower.

Canadian National Railway Co and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, were the top performers, with CN Rail adding 1.2 percent to C$81.99 and CP gaining 1.9 percent to C$234.47.

Monday's session came as investors were bracing for the outcome of an Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting on Thursday.

"This is a little bit of give-back, based on the fact that we have the critical OPEC meeting this week," said Elvis Picardo, strategist and vice president of research at Global Securities in Vancouver.

With crude oil around $80 a barrel, near four-year lows, companies that extract or sell the commodity were among the heaviest laggards on the Canadian benchmark index. [O/R]

Suncor Energy was down 0.5 percent at C$40.32, and Canadian Natural Resources shed 1.5 percent to C$42.03.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed down 95.72 points, or 0.63 percent, at 15,015.41. Six of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red.

Shares of department store operator Hudson's Bay Co jumped 8 percent to C$21.82 after the company outlined a $1.25 billion refinancing plan to reduce interest payments on debt taken on when it acquired U.S. rival Saks last year.

The retailer said it would take out a 20-year mortgage on the ground portion of its flagship Saks Fifth Avenue store in New York City after an appraiser valued the property at C$4.1 billion ($3.65 billion), significantly more than HBC paid for all of Saks when it acquired the company last year.

(Editing by W Simon, Peter Galloway and Tom Brown)

By Alastair Sharp and John Tilak