CANADA STOCKS-Toronto stocks rise ahead of Fed rate decision

Shubham Batra
2-min read

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Fed rate decision at 2 p.m. ET

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Gildan Activewear jumps on PT hikes

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TSX up 0.1%

(Updated at 9:56 a.m. ET/1356 GMT)

By Shubham Batra

March 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index edged higher on Wednesday supported by rate-sensitive stocks ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision due later in the day, while energy shares led sectoral losses tracking oil prices.

At 9:56 a.m. ET (13:56 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 26.66 points, or 0.12%, at 21,887.24.

All eyes are on the Fed's rate decision, due at 2 p.m. ET, where the central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged, but the focus will be on the commentary to gauge the timing of the first rate cut and the quantum of cuts in 2024.

"In our view, we see scope for the Fed to start cutting rates in June, however, the path of policy still remains very data dependent," said Henk Potts, market strategist at Barclays Private Bank.

Rate-sensitive sectors such as consumer discretionary , technology and utilities rose between 0.4% and 0.7%.

Energy shares which gained in the previous session were down 0.4% as oil prices edged lower after hitting multi-month highs on Tuesday.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE ended higher on Tuesday, moving closer to a near two-year high it notched last Wednesday at 21,970.11.

Shares of Gildan Activewear jumped 3.8% to over two-year high after the National Bank of Canada raised the price target on the stock. Canadian clothing maker's board decided on Tuesday to put the company up for sale and is in talks with multiple bidders.

Kelt Exploration was also up 2.2% after TD Securities upgraded the stock to "Buy" from "Hold".

Meanwhile, two big Canadian pension funds invested a total of C$595 million ($438.3 million) in India's National Highways Infra Trust this week, dialling up their bets on the poll-bound South Asian country's booming infrastructure sector. (Reporting by Shubham Batra and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)