July 12 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday as gains in financial stocks downplayed concerns of escalating U.S.-China trade war, which had pushed markets to losses a day earlier.
* At 9:36 a.m. ET (1336 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite index .GSPTSE was up 51.94 points, or 0.32 percent, at 16,469.26.
* The Bank of Canada hiked interest rates on Wednesday, saying that while mounting trade tensions with the United States were a concern, their impact on growth and inflation looked modest so far. Nine of the index's 11 major sectors were higher, led by the financials sector .SPTTFS which climbed 0.4 percent.
* Top boosts to the financials were shares of Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO , which rose 0.3 percent and Brookfield Asset Management BAMa.TO , which gained about 1 percent.
* The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart as investor appetite for risk recovered and after the Bank of Canada raised interest rates. The energy sector .SPTTEN climbed 0.07 percent as oil rose slightly after Libya said it would resume oil exports and the International Energy Agency said the world's oil supply cushion "might be stretched to the limit" due to production losses. O/R
* Domestic data showed Canadian new home prices were unchanged in May for a third straight month, while another piece of data showed Canadian home prices rose in June. On the NAFTA front, the next meeting on the agreement will likely take place in Washington during the last week of July, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Wednesday. On the TSX, 163 issues were higher, while 68 issues declined for a 2.40-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 7.67 million shares traded.
* Top percentage gainer on the TSX were shares of Precision Drilling PD.TO , which jumped 3.4 percent and Canopy Growth Co WEED.TO , which rose 2.3 percent after it entered a supply pact with a liquor distributor. Shares of Hydro One H.TO dropped 5.9 percent, the most on the TSX, after CEO Mayo Schmidt's exit. The most heavily traded shares by volume were Hydro One, Prometic Life Sciences PLI.TO and Trevali Mining TV.TO .
* The TSX posted five new 52-week highs and two new lows.
* Across all Canadian issues there were 10 new 52-week highs and six new lows, with total volume of 14.97 million shares.