CANADA STOCKS-TSX gains as energy, material stocks lift index

By Utkarsh Hathi and Nivedita Balu

Jan 28 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed higher on Wednesday, helped by gains in material and energy stocks, as the index recovered from earlier losses following the Bank of Canada's comments on uncertainty around future policy decisions after it kept interest rates unchanged.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index .GSPTSE closed up 79.67 points, or 0.24%, at 33,176.07.

The gold-focused index .SPTTGD jumped 3%, as gold prices moved past $5,300 per ounce early in the day, triggered by a sell-off in the U.S. dollar even as U.S. President Donald Trump brushed off January's slide. The broader materials index .GSPTTMT, which includes metal miners, gained 1.9% as copper, aluminum and zinc also traded higher.

The index reversed course as energy stocks .SPTTEN gained 1% with oil prices hovering around a four-month high, lifted by supply concerns due to the slow resumption of operations at Kazakhstan's Tengiz oil field and production disruptions in the U.S following a winter storm.

The central bank's governor Tiff Macklem said the high level of geopolitical and trade uncertainty made it difficult to predict the timing and direction of the next rate change. The Bank of Canada's policy rate currently stands at 2.25%.

"We're in, what I would describe as, uncomfortably in neutral. We don't know if they should shift up or down because the road is really windy and they don't know what's ahead," Ben Jang, portfolio manager at Nicola Wealth, said.

Financial stocks .SPTTFS, which drove the main index lower earlier in the day, dropped 1%, while the rate-sensitive industrials sector .GSPTTIN fell 0.9%.

In the United States, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, citing still-elevated inflation alongside solid economic growth, and giving little indication in its latest policy statement of when borrowing costs might fall again.

The S&P 500 closed slightly lower and the Nasdaq advanced modestly as investor reactions were muted after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged as expected and gave little indication when borrowing costs might fall again.

In other news, IT consulting firm CGI GIBa.TO sliding 3.9% after reporting first-quarter results.