By Ragini Mathur

(Reuters) -Canada's main stock index rose on Wednesday, lifted by information technology stocks ahead of U.S. chip giant Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA )'s results.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.8% at 25,409.45, on pace to claw back some of its recent declines.

Information technology shares led the gains, up 1.9%, as markets awaited quarterly results after hours from AI bellwether Nvidia. Investors are scrutinizing AI spending, particularly after January's market jitters triggered by China's DeepSeek announcing low-cost competition.

Meanwhile, National Bank of Canada (OTC: NTIOF ) on Wednesday reported a higher first-quarter profit helped by robust performance in its wealth management unit. The lender's shares, however, dipped 3.4%.

Bigger peers Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS ) beat profit estimates on Tuesday, also helped by strong income in their wealth management businesses.

"The bank earnings so far have been solid and that's certainly lent a pretty big hand to the Canadian market," said Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Heavily-weighted financials added 0.41% to the benchmark index.

Materials climbed 0.8% as shares of copper miners in North America rose after U.S. President Donald Trump moved closer to imposing tariffs on imports of the red metal.

Canadian miners Hudbay Minerals (NYSE: HBM ) rose 4.2%, Teck Resources (NYSE: TECK ) rose 1.3% and First Quantum (NASDAQ: QMCO ) rose 2.2%.

Limiting overall gains, communication shares fell 0.6% after BCE (NYSE: BCE ) fell over 1%.

Energy lost 0.24% as oil prices stayed at two-month lows after a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine continued to weigh on prices. [O/R]