CANADA STOCKS-TSX rises on materials boost; US inflation data revives rate cut hopes

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TSX up 0.3%

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Materials shares lead gains

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TFI International's results miss estimates, shares fall

(Updated at 10:05 a.m. ET/ 1405 GMT)

By Purvi Agarwal

April 26 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed on Friday, set for a weekly gain, boosted by materials stocks and upbeat megacap earnings on Wall Street, as increasing bets for an interest rate cut in September helped investor sentiment.

At 10:05 a.m. ET (14:05 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 73.53 points, or 0.34%, at 21,958.91.

The materials sector, which climbed 1.3%, was boosted by miners tracking higher prices of precious and base metals.

Gold miner Eldorado Gold jumped 3.7% after its first-quarter results beat analysts' estimates.

"If rates and inflation are going to remain elevated, commodities are going work in that environment and that's what you're seeing today", said Mike Archibald, vice president and portfolio manager at AGF Investments.

Rate-senstive technology shares followed with a 0.6% % gain.

Most sectors on the TSX trended upwards amid a broader rally, with outliers energy and industrials declining 0.1% each.

Industrials were dragged down by a 4.8% decline in TFI International after the transportation and logistics company's results missed first-quarter estimates.

Consumer staples companies were on track to outperform their sectoral peers, while industrial stocks were set to lag the most this week.

Meanwhile, U.S. inflation rose moderately in March, data showed on Friday, but that is unlikely to change market expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold off cutting interest rates until September.

"The idea that inflation is starting to come down has taken a little bit of a breather here," Archibald added.

It follows a quarterly reading of gross domestic product (GDP) on Thursday that showed an acceleration in inflation and fanned fear of hotter inflation in March.

U.S. stocks also opened higher on Friday on megacaps' boost after robust quarterly results from Alphabet and Microsoft, while an in-line reading for a key inflation print calmed jitters around elevated interest rates.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar)