CANADA STOCKS-Toronto market rebounds as rate cut hopes boost sentiment
*
TSX ends up 0.8% at 20,765.73
*
Materials group rallies 1.1%
*
Financials add 0.8%
*
BlackBerry tanks on Q4 revenue forecast
(Adds investor quotes and details on economic data)
By Fergal Smith
Dec 21 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday as optimism that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next year drove broad-based gains and despite a sharp drop in the shares of BlackBerry.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended up 164.92 points, or 0.8%, at 20,765.73, after falling more than 1% on Wednesday.
"Today we are full steam ahead," said Allan Small, senior investment advisor of the Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth. "Everybody is anticipating interest rate cuts from the Fed next year and I think that continues to drive the bus."
Wall Street also rebounded as economic data fueled optimism that the Fed would ease monetary policy and revived investor risk appetite. Last week, the Fed hinted it could look at interest rate cuts next year.
Domestic data showed that retail sales grew by 0.7% month-on-month in October but most likely were flat in November, reinforcing market expectations of sluggish fourth-quarter growth.
The materials sector, which houses Canada's major mining firms, rallied 1.1%, as gold and copper prices rose.
Heavily-weighted financials added 0.8% and industrials were up 0.9%. All ten major sectors ended higher.
BlackBerry Ltd shares dropped 13.5% after the technology company forecast fourth-quarter revenue below analysts' expectations. (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal, Deepa Babington and Alistair Bell)
