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TSX ends up 0.99% at 28,333.13

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Surpasses Thursday's record closing high

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Technology sector gains 2.59%

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Energy adds 2.33%, with Cenovus up 7.13%

(Updates at market close)

By Fergal Smith

TORONTO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Canada's major stock index

rallied to another record high on Friday as investors sought to

increase their ownership of shares in high-growth sectors like

technology after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opened the

door to interest rate cuts.

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

ended up 277.70 points, or 0.99%, at 28,333.13,

surpassing the record closing high it posted on Thursday. For

the week, the index was up 1.53%, its third straight weekly

gain.

Powell pointed to a possible interest rate cut at the U.S.

central bank's meeting next month, telling the Fed's annual

Jackson Hole conference that risks to the job market were rising

but also noting the continued threat of inflation and that a

decision wasn't set in stone.

"The market has been waiting for a solid signal from the Fed

on this for a while now," said Philip Petursson, chief

investment strategist at IG Wealth Management. "Today, clearly

it got it and it's responding in kind."

The TSX has advanced 14.58% since the start of the year,

helped by a heavy weighting in the shares of gold mining

companies. Safe-haven gold has benefited from economic

uncertainty triggered by the global trade war.

Canada will remove many retaliatory import tariffs on U.S.

goods and intensify talks with the United States on striking a

new trade and security relationship, Prime Minister Mark Carney

said.

Investors are rotating out of defensive sectors into the

"growthier areas" such as energy, materials and technology,

Petursson said.

The technology sector was up 2.59%, helped by a

gain of 3.38% for the shares of e-commerce company Shopify Inc ( SHOP )

.

Energy climbed 2.33% as the price of oil

settled 0.22% higher at $63.66 a barrel.

Cenovus Energy ( CVE ) announced it will acquire MEG Energy ( MEGEF )

in a C$7.9 billion ($5.68 billion) cash-and-stock deal,

ending weeks of speculation that it would emerge as a white

knight for MEG, which is facing a hostile takeover attempt.

Shares of Cenovus jumped 7.13%, while MEG's shares ended 1.23%

higher.

The materials group, which includes metal mining

shares, added 1.38%.