TSX rises as miners, technology take lead on China optimism

Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, buoyed by commodity-linked shares as crude and metal prices gained on hopes of a demand recovery in China following an easing of its stringent COVID-19 restrictions.

At 1007 a.m. ET (1507 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index TSX was up 100.76 points, or 0.5%, at 20,069.95. Still, the benchmark index is on track to record its biggest weekly drop in more than two months.

Commodity-linked stocks were among the top gainers, with energy TTEN and materials TTMT sub-indexes rising 0.6% and 1.1%, respectively, on higher crude and gold prices.

Investors have geared up for a big week with major central banks including the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank set to announce their stance on interest rates.

Data on Friday showed that U.S. producer prices increased a bit more than expected in November, but the underlying trend in inflation is moderating, which could allow the Federal Reserve to slow its pace of rate hikes.

"You have this balancing act that the Fed and the Bank of Canada need to do, bring down the economy slowly to bring down inflation, but don't bring it down too much where the whole country goes into a deep recession," said Allan Small, senior investment adviser at Allan Small Financial Group.

The Bank of Canada had hiked its overnight lending rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday.

Technology stocks TTTTK also contributed to the benchmark index's gains on Friday, with Shopify SHOP advancing 4.1% after Wells Fargo raised its price target.

On the year, the TSX has outperformed the U.S. S&P 500 index SPX with a 5.6% loss vs the S&P's drop of 17%.

Among single stocks, Laurentian Bank of Canada LB climbed 7.2% to top the TSX after the lender beat its fourth-quarter profit estimate.