Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday ahead of a speech by Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, with wider sentiment also boosted by a rebound in tech-related stocks on Wall Street.

At 9:47 a.m. ET (1347 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 17.11 points, or 0.1%, at 16,400.71.

Macklem is set to deliver a speech at 12:30 p.m. ET to discuss the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on different sectors following Wednesday's policy meet where it kept key interest rate unchanged.

The energy sector dropped 0.2% as US crude prices were down 0.3% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 0.2%.

The financials sector slipped 0.2%, while the industrials sector rose 0.3%.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.8% as gold futures were up 0.66 % at $1,967.70.

On the TSX, 118 issues were higher, while 99 issues declined for a 1.19-to-1 ratio favoring gainers, with 15.52 million shares traded.

The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Transcontinental Inc, which jumped 9.0%, and Empire Co , which rose 3.3%.

Descartes Systems Group fell 3.8%, the most on the TSX, after announcing plans to lay off 5% of its global workforce, while the second biggest decliner was Enerplus Corp , down 3.2%.

The most heavily traded shares by volume were Turquoise Hill Resources, Cenovus Energy and Suncor Energy.

The TSX posted two new 52-week highs and no new low.

Across all Canadian issues there were eight new 52-week highs and one new low, with total volume of 31.20 million shares.