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TSX ends up 0.6% at 25,657.70

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BoC cuts policy rate by 50 basis points

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Materials sector gains 2.1% as gold climbs

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Energy adds 1.4%; oil settles 2.5% higher

(Updates at market close)

By Fergal Smith

Dec 11 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on

Wednesday, led by resource stocks, as investors cheered the Bank

of Canada's latest outsized interest rate cut and shook off a

possible disconnect between the performance of the market and

the economy.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index

ended up 153.37 points, or 0.6%, at 25,657.70, moving

closer to Friday's record closing high.

Year-to-date, the market is up 22.4%, including 6.2% since

the start of November.

"Just based on recent performance ... the market still seems

to be pretty euphoric," said Elvis Picardo, a portfolio manager

at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth.

"You look at the Bank of Canada's 50-basis-point rate cut

today that's not something that happens if it's full steam ahead

for the economy."

The Bank of Canada slashed its benchmark rate by half a

percentage point to 3.25% to help address slower economic

growth, and its governor, Tiff Macklem, said that the

possibility of new tariffs under U.S. President-elect Donald

Trump on imports from Canada represented "a major new

uncertainty."

"There is a little bit of disconnect between the performance

of the TSX and the economy. 2025, by that token, could very well

be a year when investors face a reality check and reassess where

we go from here," Picardo said.

The materials sector, which includes fertilizer companies

and metal mining shares, rose 2.1% as the price of gold

climbed.

Oil settled up 2.5% at $70.29, which helped energy

notch a gain of 1.4%. Technology also added 1.4%.

Shares of pharmaceutical company Bausch Health Companies ( BHC )

dropped 9.1% after a report said Blackstone may

exit a group bidding for eye care firm Bausch + Lomb Corp ( BLCO )

.

Bausch Health ( BHC ) owns a controlling interest in Bausch + Lomb ( BLCO ).