(Updated at 10:16 a.m. ET)

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TSX up 0.3%

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Manulife to reinsure $4.3 bln of Canadian Universal Life

reserves

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Sun Life Financial ( SLF ) names Timothy Deacon as CFO

By Johann M Cherian

March 25 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index inched up

on Monday, boosted by energy and mining firms at the start of a

holiday-shortened week, while telecom firm Telus ( TU ) slid following

a rating downgrade.

At 10:16 a.m. ET (1416 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's

S&P/TSX composite index was up 66.71 points, or 0.3%,

at 22,050.79.

The energy sector added 1.2% as oil benchmark

Brent hovered close to $86 a barrel, supported by supply

concerns as hostilities intensified between Russia and Ukraine

and in the Middle East.

The materials sector, which includes precious and

base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 1.3%,

tracking an uptick in bullion prices as investors bought into

the safe haven asset ahead of key economic data due out of the

U.S.

"Canada is getting benefit from the fact that we're seeing

commodity prices up which is helping resource stocks because

otherwise things are pretty quiet today," said Colin Cieszynski,

chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.

On Friday, the market will parse U.S. February personal

consumption expenditures data, the Federal Reserve's preferred

inflation gauge, that could test investor euphoria around

interest rates being reduced later in the year.

The resources-heavy TSX touched record closing levels in the

previous week as investors cheered signs of inflation pressures

easing amid the possibilities of averting an economic slowdown.

Among individual stocks, Telus Corp ( TU ) dropped 1.7%

after brokerage Scotiabank downgraded the telecom firm to

"sector perform" from "sector outperform".

Manulife Financial ( MFC ) said that it has agreed to

reinsure C$5.8 billion ($4.27 billion) of reserves of Canadian

Universal Life block, sending shares of the insurer 0.7% higher.

Sun Life Financial ( SLF ) crept 0.1% after the insurer

named Timothy Deacon as its chief financial officer, effective

April 8.

The financials sector that makes the majority of

the TSX added 0.4%.

Canadian markets will be closed on Friday on account of Good

Friday.