* TSX up 17.87 points, or 0.11 percent, at 15,848.09
* Seven of the TSX's 10 main groups move higher
TORONTO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday as energy company stocks were boosted by gains in oil prices, while higher prices for bullion lifted shares of gold miners.
Supermarket chain Loblaw's L.TO advanced 2.1 percent to C$70.37 after reporting a sharp jump in profit and higher-than-expected revenue. energy group climbed 1.3 percent, as oil prices rose more than $1 a barrel after U.S. data showed a surprise decline in inventories, suggesting a global glut may be ending after moves by OPEC to cut production. O/R
Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO rose 1.1 percent to C$42.60 and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO also added 1.1 percent, to C$38.58.
Crescent Point Energy Corp CPG.TO advanced 3.5 percent to C$16.04, even as the company reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss as production fell about 6 percent. operator Enbridge Inc ENB.TO fell 1.1 percent to C$54.71. An outage on its Line 2A pipeline in Canada's Alberta will last about three weeks, the company said in a note to shippers seen by Reuters. 10:29 a.m. ET (1529 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 17.87 points, or 0.11 percent, at 15,848.09. Seven of the index's 10 main groups were in positive territory, with two advancers for every decliner.
The index is trading just off record highs.
Goldcorp Inc G.TO advanced 1.5 percent to C$22.52 and Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO rose 1.3 percent to C$26.44 as prices for the precious metal hit a three-month high. Bullion rose after the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting further damped expectations of an interest rate hike in March, lowering U.S. bond yields and stalling upward momentum in the dollar. GOL/
Maple Leaf Foods Inc MFI.TO advanced 3.2 percent to C$30.905. The meat packing company is hunting for acquisitions in the United States, after years spent upgrading old factories and shedding business lines, its chief executive officer said on Wednesday, a day after reporting a doubling of fourth-quarter profit. financials group gained 0.2 percent, with Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO advancing 0.4 percent to C$98.86 and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM.TO advancing 1.0 percent to C$119.39.
CIBC said it would be "disciplined" in assessing whether to raise its C$3.8 billion ($2.9 billion) offer for Chicago-based PrivateBancorp and could step up stock buybacks if the deal collapses. crude CLc1 prices were up 2.0 percent to $54.64 a barrel, while Brent LCOc1 added 2.0 percent to $56.98. O/R
Gold futures GCc1 rose 1.3 percent to $1,247.4 an ounce and copper prices CMCU3 fell 1.3 percent to $5,960 a tonne. GOL/ MET/L
The materials group was barely higher as losses for base metal miners and fertilizer companies offset the gold mining gains.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd FM.TO fell 2.4 percent to C$14.85 and Potash Corp POT.TO shed 2.2 percent to C$23.92.