By Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) -Canada's main stock index climbed on Thursday, pulled up by commodity-linked stocks, as investors cheered inflation numbers from the United States that revived hopes of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
At 10:15 a.m. ET (1515 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 61.4 points, or 0.29%, at 21,305.17.
The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index in the United States rose 0.3% in January, raising hopes of interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve in the first half of the year. Wall Street indexes traded in the green after the data. [.N]
"It's still above where the Fed expected, but they have to give a little bit to the world and proceed with some kind of minor rate cut", said Brad Nathan, president of Lynx Equity.
On the TSX, the materials sector led gains, with a 1% rise as spot gold prices turned positive after the data.
Lithium stocks also added to the sector after lithium carbonate prices rose in China. Miner Lithium Americas Corp rose 9.9% to the top of the TSX.
Energy shares followed with a 0.8% gain, pulled by the upbeat results of Canadian Natural Resources. The company's shares advanced 3.0% after its fourth-quarter profit beat estimates.
Heavy-weight financial stocks gained 0.2% after upbeat results from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and TD Bank Group, although gains were capped by an 6.5% decline in EQB after the lender reported its quarterly results.
Separately, the Canadian economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1% in the fourth quarter, exceeding expectations.
"(GDP)is in a good spot by just missing recession because there's room to be able to reduce the rates even though the economy is just slightly ahead. The housing starts need that kind of kick", Nathan added.
The investors' focus will now shift to the Bank of Canada's monetary policy decision due next week.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar)
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