CANADA STOCKS-TSX hits over one-week high on dovish Fed remarks
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TSX up 1.4%
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Commodity stocks lead gains
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Healthcare only sector on TSX to see declines
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Brookfield up on regulatory approval of deal
(Updated at 10:37 a.m. ET)
By Khushi Singh
Oct 10 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index hit over one-week highs on Tuesday, joining a rebound in global equities as Treasury yields eased on the back of dovish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials.
At 10:37 a.m. ET (14:37 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 263.97 points, or 1.37%, at 19,510.04.
The index looked set to clock its biggest percentage gain in nearly a month.
Providing a respite from the recent selling pressure, top-ranking
Fed officials
indicated on Monday that rising yields on long-term U.S. Treasury bonds could steer the central bank away from further increases in its short-term policy rate.
Investors kept a wary eye on the conflict in the Middle East that sent investors to the safety of bonds and gold on Monday and lifted oil prices by more than 4%.
The energy sector led sectoral gains, adding 3.2%, while the materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, followed along with a 2.0% rise.
Gold is traditionally seen as a safe-haven investment during times of political and economic uncertainty.
Israel pounded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday with the fiercest air strikes in its 75-year conflict with the Palestinians, despite a threat from Hamas militants to execute a captive for each home hit.
"Although the violence in the Middle East is seen as having only a limited fallout for now, it has nevertheless added a new layer of uncertainty to the outlook," said Raffi Boyadjian, lead investment analyst at XM.
"The shift in tone from the Fed is much welcome from a risk sentiment perspective," Boyadjian added.
The healthcare sector was the only outlier on the index, slipping 0.2%.
Scheduled remarks at different events from a slew of Fed officials including Minneapolis' Neel Kashkari, San Francisco's Mary Daly and Board Governor Christopher Waller will be on the investor radar during the day.
In corporate news, Brookfield Asset Management received authorization from Australia's competition regulator for its A$15.35 billion ($9.84 billion) acquistion of power producer Origin Energy. Brookfield rose 2.1%. (Reporting by Khushi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
