June 17 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index edged higher on Monday, as shares of financial companies gained ahead of a key U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting that could determine the path of future interest rate cuts.
* The U.S. central bank is expected to leave borrowing costs unchanged at the end of the meeting, but analysts expect data to show that a growing number of policymakers are open to cutting rates in the coming months.
* Interest-rate sensitive financial companies rose 0.5%.
* At 9:53 a.m. ET (13:53 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 22.2 points, or 0.14%, at 16,324.11.
* The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.3%.
* Only the energy sector was trading 0.1% lower as U.S. crude prices were down 0.9% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 0.5%.
* Healthcare sector, which was up 0.9%, led gains on the main index as shares of cannabis producers rose. Canopy Growth Corp and Aurora Cannabis Inc supported the sector.
* On the TSX, 144 issues were higher, while 89 issues declined for a 1.62-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 20.94 million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Alacer Gold Corp, with an 8% rise, which was followed by a 4.1% gain for Bombardier Inc.
* Fortuna Silver Mines fell 3.9%, the most on the TSX, and the second biggest decliner was Uni-Select Inc , down 3.8%.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Bombardier, Argex Titanium Inc and Royal Nickel.
* The TSX posted 15 new 52-week highs and seven new lows.
* Across all Canadian issues, there were 56 new 52-week highs and 19 new lows, with total volume touching 37.15 million shares. (Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)
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