Aug 22 (Reuters) - Canada's main index jumped over 1% to hit a record high on Friday, led by technology and energy shares, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled willingness towards future rate cuts at the Jackson Hole Symposium.
At 10:35 a.m. ET (1435 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), was up 1.02% at 28,341.66 points, surpassing the intra-day record high of August 13.
Powell on Friday pointed to a possible rate cut at the central bank's September meeting but stopped short of committing, in remarks that walked a narrow line acknowledging growing risks to the job market while also indicating risks of higher inflation remain.
According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, the odds for a September rate cut have risen to 87.2% from 71.3% earlier in the day.
"Powell's comments certainly opened the door for a September rate cut, in a sense validating market expectations that the easing cycle will resume," said Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones Investments.
"The labor market data really coming more to the forefront than the one of potential increase in inflation."
On the TSX, information technology (.SPTTTK), led sector gains, up 2.4%. The energy index (.SPTTEN), rose 1.3%, taking its weekly gains to 2.6%, among the best performing sectors for the week.
Materials (.GSPTTMT), led the weekly sector gains by rising 3%.
Toronto's benchmark index was on track for a third consecutive weekly advance, with gains in commodity-linked stocks, while its limited exposure to tech shielded it from the selloff that had pressured Wall Street earlier this week.
For the week so far, TSX has risen 1.5% and Wall Street's S&P 500 (.SPX), is up 0.2%.
On the day, Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), jumped 3.7% after the oil and gas producer agreed to buy MEG Energy (MEG.TO), in a cash-and-stock deal valued at C$7.9 billion ($5.68 billion), including debt.
Canadian retail sales grew by 1.5% in June from a tariff-driven slowdown in May, on higher sales at food and beverage retailers.
Reporting by Nikhil Sharma; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri
