April 1 (Reuters) - Canada's resource-heavy stock index rose on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled a resolution to the Middle East conflict could be within reach, though a fall in oil prices capped gains.

At 11:09 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 1% at 33,093.22

Trump told Reuters on Wednesday the U.S. would withdraw from Iran "pretty quickly" and conduct limited strikes only when needed. He is scheduled to deliver a national address at 9 p.m. ET.

Canada's heavyweight energy sector fell 4% as oil prices retreated after Trump's remarks suggested the month-long war could be nearing an end. [O/R]

"Investors will maintain some positions in energy... but they may come back to mining and financials, which are another big part of our index," said Shiraz Ahmed, founder at Sartorial Wealth.

Meanwhile, the materials sector, which includes stocks of metal miners, advanced 2.3% and was the top gainer on the TSX as gold prices climbed to a near two-week peak on a softer U.S. dollar. [GOL/]

The financials sector rose 1%.

"This has been a bit of a war of attrition between Iran and the U.S., and hopefully cooler heads prevail and everybody decides to de-escalate," Ahmed added.

The TSX posted a monthly loss of 4.6% in March, its steepest decline since May 2023, as the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran roiled global markets and drove up energy prices.

A pullback in oil prices could help ease some pressure on central banks, even as geopolitical risks continue to stoke inflation concerns. Money markets expect the Bank of Canada to hold rates in April, while pricing in nearly two hikes by year-end, LSEG data showed.

Meanwhile, Canada's Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is set to travel to China this week in a visit aimed at strengthening strategic and economic ties.

Among individual stocks, shares of goeasy Ltd fell 7.4% after it reported a quarterly adjusted loss, while those of Ivanhoe Mines slumped 9.7% after the company cut output estimates for its Democratic Republic of Congo mine.

(Reporting by Rashika Singh; Editing by Diti Pujara)

By Rashika Singh