CANADA STOCKS-TSX climbs to 12-day high as trade tariff shock fades

By Fergal Smith

April 15 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday to a 12-day high, led by technology shares, as inflation cooled and investors weighed whether much of the bad news from a global trade war has already been priced into the market.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite Index .GSPTSE ended up 201.40 points, or 0.8%, at 24,067.39, its highest closing level since April 3 and extending its recovery from an eight-month low last Tuesday.

Some trade policy relief has helped support stocks in recent days, such as a possible modification to the 25% tariffs imposed on U.S. auto and auto parts imports, including from Canada.

"We've had max bad news," said Diana Avigdor, portfolio manager and head of trading at Barometer Capital Management. "It's going to take another big shock to take us say another 20% lower."

Canada's annual inflation rate unexpectedly slowed to 2.3% in March from 2.6% in February, supporting expectations for the Bank of Canada to lower interest rates further this year. 0#CADIRPR

Investors see a 55% chance of a pause at a policy decision on Wednesday but are largely pricing in another cut by June, anticipating that damage from the trade war will become more evident in the economic data.

"We're pretty high cash and very defensive in our portfolios - things like gold, things like utilities, like Enbridge, things like Loblaw that have pricing power to pass on," Avigdor said.

The price of gold XAU= approached a fresh record high. Shares of energy pipeline company Enbridge Inc ENB.TO added 1.2%, while shares of grocery retailer Loblaw Companies Ltd L.TO moved to a new all-time closing high.

Technology was up 1.9%, helped by a gain of 2.2% for the shares of e-commerce company Shopify Inc SHOP.TO.

The materials sector, which includes metal mining shares, was another stand out, adding 1.3%.

Real estate also advanced 1.3% as bond yields fell.