CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls as industrials weigh, materials up on commodity boost

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TSX down 0.6%

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Industrial sector top loser

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Canadian housing starts jump 8% in September

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Brokerages expect BoC to keep rates steady next week

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Scotiabank down on impact of 'notable items' in Q4

(Updated at 1400 GMT)

By Shubham Batra and Khushi Singh

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday, led by losses in industrial stocks, while materials gained after better-than-expected economic data from top consumer China brightened the demand outlook.

At 10:00 a.m. ET (14:00 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 110.54 points, or 0.56%, at 19,582.26.

The industrials were the biggest losers among sectors, set to log their worst day in three weeks with a 1.4% decline.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, climbed 0.5% as gold prices jumped 1% on fears of an escalation in the Middle East conflict.

Higher copper and other base metals also supported the sector after China's economy grew 4.9% in July-September from the year earlier, beating analysts' forecasts.

Heavyweight energy stocks added 0.4% as the Brent hit $93 a barrel with the risk of rising tensions in the Middle East threatening to disrupt oil supplies from the region.

Canada's housing starts unexpectedly rose in September, climbing 8% compared with the previous month, as groundbreaking increased on multi-unit and single-family-detached projects.

"In Canada, we've been in a housing bubble so far and the banks are highly levered to the real estate sector. The longer interest rates stay this high just confirms that mortgage holders and the banks are in trouble," said Matt Manara, partner & portfolio manager at Aventine Investment Management.

Among individual stocks, Lithium Americas Corp dropped 5.6% after Deutsche Bank cut the rating on the stock to "hold" from "buy", while also reducing its target price to $7 from $25 earlier.

Bank of Nova Scotia fell 1.3% as its fourth-quarter results will be adjusted for certain "notable items", impacting its results by about $590 million after-tax, or about 49 cents per share.

Meanwhile, J.P.Morgan and Goldman Sachs now expect the Bank of Canada to keep policy rates unchanged at 5% for the second straight month, as data on Tuesday showed the country's inflation rate eased in September. (Reporting by Shubham Batra and Khushi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)