Nov 24 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday, led by a jump in energy stocks, as a third promising COVID-19 vaccine spurred hopes of a quicker economic recovery and drove oil prices to an over eight-month high.
* The energy sector .SPTTEN climbed 4.2% as U.S. crude CLc1 prices were up 1.9% a barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 added 1.7%. O/R
* At 14:40 a.m. ET (14:40 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 115.33 points, or 0.67%, at 17,209.86.
* AstraZeneca AZN.L said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine could be up to 90% effective. The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was pot producer Aurora Cannabis Inc ACB.TO , which jumped 24.6%, followed by oil firm Vermilion Energy Inc VET.TO , which rose 8.4%.
* The financials sector .SPTTFS gained 1.1%. The industrials sector .GSPTTIN rose 0.1%.
* The materials sector .GSPTTMT , which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.8% as gold futures GCc1 fell 1.6% to $1,809.3 an ounce. GOL/
* On the TSX, 140 issues were higher, while 78 issues declined for a 1.79-to-1 ratio favoring gainers, with 29.53 million shares traded.
* Miner Silvercorp Metals Inc SVM.TO fell 11.3%, the most on the TSX, and the second-biggest decliner was fuel-cell products developer Ballard Power Systems Inc BLDP.TO , down 4.6%.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Cardinal Resource Ltd CDV.TO , Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO , and Baytex Energy Corp BTE.TO .
* The TSX posted nine new 52-week highs and no new lows.
* Across all Canadian issues there were 59 new 52-week highs and six new lows, with total volume of 60.06 million shares.