By Fergal Smith

(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Thursday for a third straight day, with the technology sector contributing to broad-based declines as BlackBerry slumped and the Bank of Canada left the door open to further interest rate hikes.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended down 94.88 points, or 0.5%, at 20,132.08.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also fell, with the biggest drag coming from Apple, and weakness in chip stocks over concerns about China's iPhone curbs, while a fall in weekly U.S. jobless claims fed worries about interest rates and sticky inflation.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said interest rates may not be high enough to bring inflation back down to target, sending a hawkish message after holding borrowing costs at a 22-year high a day earlier.

"The Bank is concerned that it may be taking longer for softer demand to translate into lower inflation pressures, much like it took longer for higher rates to slow demand," Robert Both, a macro strategist at TD Securities, said in a note.

"We do expect further evidence of moderating demand into the fall, and this paired with some modest progress on price pressures should allow the Bank to stay on hold into 2024," Both added.

Eight of the TSX's 10 main sectors lost ground, including a decline of 0.8% for the technology sector.

BlackBerry shares tumbled 16.3% after the technology company forecast a 21.4% decline in second-quarter revenue due to weakness in its cybersecurity segment.

The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.7%, heavily-weighted financials fell 0.6% and consumer staples ended 1.5% lower.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Siddarth S in Bengaluru, Editing by Tasim Zahid, Shilpi Majumdar and Deepa Babington)