Jan 15 (Reuters) - Canada’s main stock index rose on Wednesday, buoyed by gains in the materials sector, as investors awaited the signing of Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal later in the day.
* At 9:40 a.m. ET (1440 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite index was up 33.01 points, or 0.19%, at 17,385.91.
* The index is on track to log its third straight session of gains.
* The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners, added 0.2% as gold prices rose 0.8%.
* Investors are awaiting the signing of a preliminary trade agreement to ease an 18-month-old trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
* U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said some technology and cybersecurity issues would be resolved in the next chapter of the deal to end a trade dispute between the United States and China.
* The energy sector dropped 0.8%, the only shares in the red, as U.S. crude and Brent crude prices lost 0.3% each.
* On the TSX, 135 issues were higher, while 84 issues declined for a 1.61-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 17.08 million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were cannabis producers Hexo Corp and Aurora Cannabis, both companies rising more than 3%.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Aurora Cannabis, OrganiGram Holdings and Toronto Dominion Bank .
* The TSX posted 14 new 52-week highs and no new low.
* Across all Canadian issues there were 64 new 52-week highs and six new lows, with total volume of 30.58 million shares. (Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
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