(Adds details on specific stocks, updates prices)
* TSX up 13.72 points, or 0.09 percent, to 15,385.86.
* Half of the TSX's 10 main groups higher
TORONTO, June 8 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index eked out a small rise in morning trade on Thursday, helped by gains for some of the country's biggest banks but weighed down by losses for gold miners.
Both the energy and financial groups climbed 0.6 percent, as oil prices and bond yields picked up and domestic house prices jumped. Together, the two groups account for more than half of the index's weight.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE:VRX) VRX.TO also added to the positive sentiment, jumping 7.2 percent to C$17.60 after saying it would sell its iNova Pharmaceuticals business for $930 million as part of a debt reduction plan. Capital Corp ECN.TO gained 3.3 percent to C$3.77 after the commercial financing company said it would buy U.S.-based Service Finance Holdings LLC for C$410 million ($304 million) in cash. 10:10 a.m. ET (1410 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 13.72 points, or 0.09 percent, to 15,385.86.
Half of its 10 main sectors moved higher, while advancers barely outnumbered declining stocks.
Gold edged lower after the euro lost ground against the U.S. dollar, while investors await the outcome of Britain's national election and testimony from former U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey. GOL/
Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO fell 2.3 percent to C$22.65 and Goldcorp G.TO lost 2.4 percent to C$18.41. Eldorado Gold Corp ELD.TO fell 4.7 percent to C$4.05 after Greece said it would take the miner to arbitration over a gold mining investment.
Hudbay Minerals HBM.TO was up 3.0 percent to C$6.87.
Prices of new homes in Canada jumped by 0.8 percent in April from March, the biggest gain in almost a year, amid keen buyer interest in the hot markets of Toronto and Vancouver, Statistics Canada said. Bank TD.TO added 0.8 percent to C$64.77 and Bank of Nova Scotia rose 0.8 percent to C$77.25.