* At 9:40 a.m. ET (1440 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 14.95 points, or 0.1 percent, at 14,954.13.

* The main index is expected to extend its winning streak to a seventh straight day.

* Six of the index's 11 major sectors were higher, led by a 0.6 percent rise in the materials sector.

* The materials group was boosted by shares of Goldcorp Inc, which jumped 11 percent, after bigger rival Newmont Mining Corp said it would buy the gold miner in a deal worth $10 billion.

* Miners also got a boost from gold prices, which rose with investors seeking safety after weak Chinese trade data dented risk sentiment and rekindled fears of a global economic slowdown.

* The weak data from China also took a leg of oil prices, hurting the energy sector, which edged down 0.2 percent.

* U.S. crude prices were down 0.9 percent, while Brent crude shed 0.6 percent.

* Economic data showed that Canadian home prices fell in December for the third consecutive month, led by weakness in Edmonton and Vancouver.

* On the TSX, 100 issues were higher, while 126 issues declined for a 1.26-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 19.52 traded volume touching million shares.

* Leading gainers on the TSX were shares of Goldcorp, followed by a 4.3 percent rise in Aurora Cannabis.

* Norbord Inc fell 3.6 percent, the most on the TSX, after CIBC cut its rating on shares to "underperform" from "neutral".

* The most heavily traded shares by volume were those of Aurora Cannabis, Goldcorp and Aphria Inc.

* The TSX posted no new 52-week high and no new low.

* Across all Canadian issues, there were four new 52-week highs and one new low, with total volume touching 31.35 million shares.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)