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TSX ends up 1% at 22,165.15

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Posts eighth straight weekly gain

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Investors raise bets on BoC rate hike in June

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Materials group rises 2%, energy up 1.3%

(Updates at market close)

By Purvi Agarwal and Fergal Smith

April 5 (Reuters) - Canada's resource-linked main stock

index rose on Friday to a new record high as higher commodity

prices boosted the outlook for corporate earnings and investors

grew more confident the Bank of Canada would cut interest rates

in the coming months.

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

ended up 212.59 points, or 1%, at 22,165.15, eclipsing

Monday's record closing high. For the week, the index was up

0.4%, its eighth straight weekly gain, which is the longest such

stretch since February 2019.

"The earnings trajectory has been much weaker on the TSX

than the S&P 500 but we are starting to see a bottoming in

earnings (growth)," said Christine Tan, a portfolio manager at

SLGI Asset Management Inc.

"With commodity prices being so strong that's certainly

positive for the overall earnings profile for the TSX," Tan

added.

Together, the energy and materials sectors account for

nearly one third of the Toronto market's weighting.

The materials group, which includes metal miners and

fertilizer companies, rose 2% as gold climbed to a new all-time

high.

The energy sector was up 1.3% as the price of oil settled

0.4% higher at $86.91 a barrel, adding to its recent gains, with

investors watching for signs of any direct military conflict

between Israel and Iran that could further tighten supplies.

Among the other standouts was consumer staples. It gained

1.6%.

Money markets see a 75% chance the Canadian central bank

will begin a rate cutting cycle in June, up from 68% before

domestic employment data that showed the economy unexpectedly

shedding jobs in March.

"The jobs numbers in Canada will probably lead to a quicker

round of cuts in Canada than in the U.S.", said Daniel Nowlan,

managing director and vice chairman of Equity Capital Markets

Group at the National Bank of Canada.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Purvi Agarwal in

Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar and Costas Pitas)