TSX rises after BoC trims policy rate

By Shubham Batra

(Reuters) - Toronto stocks climbed on Wednesday after the Bank of Canada (BoC) trimmed its key policy rate by 25 basis points and said more easing was likely if inflation continued to ease, while most commodities recovered after the U.S. jobs report raised rate cuts bets.

At 10:11 a.m. ET (14:11 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 104.24 points, or 0.47%, at 22,082.42.

After almost a year of keeping interest rates at a more than two-decade high, the BoC trimmed its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.75%, its first cut in four years.

"The Canadian economy is slowing. There's definitely some stress in the system and we've really had the inflation return towards their (BoC) target level," said Greg Taylor, chief investment officer at Purpose Investments.

"It's good news as it's the right direction for the economy and the markets."

Canadian dollar weakened 0.2% to 1.3711 per U.S. dollar after the rate cut, while Canada's 2-year yield fell 8.3 basis points to 3.973%.

The swap market data showed a 60% chance of the Canadian central bank cutting rates further in July.

Among sectors, rate-sensitive utilities, which includes high-dividend paying stocks that could particularly benefit from rate cuts, advanced 0.8%.

Materials stocks also climbed 0.4% after gold prices ticked higher as investors positioned for a flurry of U.S. economic data to gauge the U.S. central bank's rate path. [GOL/]

Industrials advanced 0.6% with a big boost from GFL Environmental that rose 4.3% to hit a record high after reports that the waste management company hired advisers to evaluate two buyout offers.

In the U.S., Wall Street rose as investors ramped up bets for an early start to interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve as the latest economic reports signalled a weakening labor market. [.N]

(Reporting by Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar)