June 7 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Friday, with materials shares leading the sectoral losses, after stronger-than-expected jobs data in the United States pushed investors to slash bets on a September rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
At 10:04 a.m. ET (1404 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), opens new tab was down 115.92 points, or 0.52%, at 22,113.18.
The benchmark index is on track to log its third consecutive weekly loss, if declines hold.
The TSX saw broad declines as investor sentiment turned downbeat after the latest employment data from across the border showed U.S. job growth in May rose far more than expected.
The materials shares (.GSPTTMT), opens new tab declined 3.1%, dragged down by miners as spot gold prices fell more than 2% and copper prices hit a one-month low.
Meanwhile, the consumer staples index (.GSPTTCS), opens new tab led the gains with a 0.4% rise, pulled up by a 5.5% increase in Saputo (SAP.TO), opens new tab shares after the food processing company reported its fourth-quarter revenue above estimates.
"It's a bit of a push and a pull in Canada because the BoC is in a different direction than the U.S. Fed is. People are betting on a second cut in Canada in July, while the odds seem to have lessened for the U.S.," said Daniel Nowlan, managing director of Equity Capital Markets Group at the National Bank of Canada.
The Bank of Canada cut interest rates by 25 basis points this week to 4.75% for the first time in four years and said it would reduce it more if inflation continued to ease.
However, separate data showed the Canadian economy added more jobs in May than expected, alongside an uptick in the jobless rate.
"The job numbers tend to correct pretty severely on a backward basis. So people have less focus on that, and more on the BoC's commentary," Nowlan added.
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar and Shreya Biswas
