By Adriano Marchese

Toronto stocks were mildly higher midday Wednesday after the Bank of Canada lowered its policy rate by a quarter-point to 3% and said it would formally end its program to shrink central-bank reserves. The central bank anticipates resuming asset purchases in early March as part of normal balance-sheet management.

Canada's materials sector was leading the gainers, followed by consumer discretionary and industrial services. The main laggards were consumer durables, tech and health tech stocks.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2% to 25468.08, and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 was 0.2% higher at 1537.65.

Shares in Bragg Gaming Group rose over 13% to 6.95 Canadian dollars ($4.83) after it laid out its growth forecasts for 2024 and 2025. The company sees revenue and adjusted earnings topping analysts' expectations, due in large part to its proprietary and exclusive content.

Other market movers:

CGI's profit rose in the first fiscal quarter as sales topped expectations, thanks to higher demand for digitization services. The company has also appointed Julie Godin as its new executive chair and that her father, company founder Serge Godin, will assume the role of co-chair. Shares rose 0.6% to C$165.70.

MDA Space shares fell over 11% to C$24.00 after a Bloomberg report said Apple, through T-Mobile, is working with Starlink on satellite service, stoking fears that it could affect MDA Space's undisclosed client, widely believed to be a competitor and Apple's current partner.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 29, 2025 12:17 ET (17:17 GMT)

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