June 25 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index struggled for direction on Thursday as worries over an alarming rise in coronavirus cases globally countered gains from a rise in oil prices.
In the United States, Florida, Oklahoma and South Carolina reported record increases in new cases on Wednesday, while Australia posted its biggest daily rise in two months. The energy sector .SPTTEN climbed 2.8% as U.S. crude CLc1 prices rose 1.2% a barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 added 1.3%. O/R
* At 9:57 a.m. ET (14:07 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 16.47 points, or 0.11%, at 15,277.91 in choppy trade.
* The financials sector .SPTTFS gained 0.4%, while industrials .GSPTTIN fell 0.2%.
* The materials sector .GSPTTMT , which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.9% as gold futures GCc1 slipped 0.1% to $1,764.1 an ounce. GOL/
* On the TSX, 42 issues were higher, while 173 issues declined for a 4.12-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 11.19 million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Northland Power Inc NPI.TO , which jumped 2.8% after BMO raised its target price.
* It was followed by Dream Office Real Estate Investment Trust D_u.TO , which rose 1.4% after National Bank Of Canada upgraded to "outperform" from "sector perform".
* Interfor Corp IFP.TO fell 5.0%, the most on the TSX, followed by NovaGold Resources Inc NG.TO , down 4.6%.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO (down 3.9%), Bonavista Energy Corp BNP.TO (down 9.1%) and Air Canada AC.TO (down 0.8%).
* The TSX posted one new 52-week high and no new low.
* Across all Canadian issues, there were four new 52-week highs and five new lows, with total volume of 26.27 million shares.