Sept 12 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday, helped by gains in mining stocks, after the latest U.S. economic data further consolidated the possibility of a quarter-basis-point rate cut next week.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), was up 87.91 points, or 0.38%, at 23,299.08 and was hovering near a record high.
Canada's materials (.GSPTTMT), sector led the gains with a 2.8% jump, helped by record-high gold prices along with a surge in copper.
Leading the index were B2Gold Corp <BTO.TO > and OceanaGold Corp (OGC.TO), that gained 8.7% and 6.6%, respectively, whereas Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO), rose 5.5%.
Domestic markets also reacted to economic data from the United States, including the U.S. producer prices that rose slightly more than expected in August, but the trend remained consistent with subsiding inflation that confirmed the possibility of a quarter-point cut by the Federal Reserve.
Markets are pricing in an 87% chance of a 25-basis points reduction at the Sept. 18 policy meeting, while bets for a 50-bps cut stand at a mere 13%.
"Pundits have been a little too optimistic in the rate at which rates could come down," said Michael Sprung, president at Sprung Investment Management.
U.S. weekly jobless claims rose marginally last week, pointing to a still-low level of layoffs even as the labor market slows.
The European Central Bank cuts rates by 25 basis points.
Back home, among the biggest laggards in the index, Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), was down 2.2%, GFL Environmental (GFL.TO), dropped 1.7%, and Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO), slid 1.1%.
The most heavily traded shares by volume were B2gold Corp (BTO.TO), Altagas Ltd (ALA.TO), and Calibre Mining Corp (CXB.TO), .
The TSX's heavyweights energy group (.SPTTEN), climbed 1%, while the financials sector (.SPTTFS), rose 0.2%.
In oil markets, prices indicated by the West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.92%, while Brent crude rose 0.78% . Gold gained more than 1%.
Crude oil and gold are among Canada's top exports.
The TSX is up 11.4% for the year.
Reporting by Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas
