*
TSX ends up 62.46 points, or 0.3%, at 20,693.15
*
For the week, the index gains 0.6%
*
Technology climbs 1.4%
*
Consumer staples adds 1.3%
(Adds analyst quotes and details on activity)
By Fergal Smith
April 21 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on
Friday, led by gains for technology shares, while the materials
sector lost ground as gold prices fell.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended up 62.46 points, or 0.3%, at 20,693.15.
For the week, the index advanced 0.6%, its fifth straight
weekly gain, as domestic data showed inflation pressures
continuing to cool.
"The TSX continues to climb even on a day where energy and
materials were struggling, particularly with the gold price
rolling back under 2,000 (dollars per ounce)," said Colin
Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
The materials sector, which includes precious and base
metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.9% as increased
expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates
further next month weighed on gold .
But most other sectors gained ground.
Technology climbed 1.4% as shares of e-commerce company
Shopify Inc added 2.7%. Consumer staples were also a
standout, rising 1.3%, and industrials gained 0.8%.
Norway's sovereign wealth fund, one of the world's largest
investors, said it will support a plan by Canadian miner Teck
Resources to spin off its metallurgical coal business
and focus on copper and zinc.
Shares of Teck Resources ended 1.2% lower.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Additional reporting by Shristi
Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Deepa
Babington and Jonathan Oatis)
