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TSX ends up 1.4% at 21,848.59

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Posts biggest gain since May 6

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Energy rallies 3.4%; oil settles 1.1% higher

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Utilities group gains 2.4%

(Updates at market close)

By Fergal Smith

June 24 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose by

the most in seven weeks on Monday, clawing back some recent

declines, as investors rotated their holdings out of technology

into resource and interest rate sensitive shares.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index

ended up 293.73 points, or 1.4%, at 21,848.59, its

biggest gain since May 6. On Friday, the index posted its fifth

straight weekly decline.

"It's been overdue for a rebound," said Elvis Picardo, a

portfolio manager at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth.

"There's possibly some profit taking in the big caps ... I

think there's some sector rotation going on too because some of

the valuations in the other sectors look really attractive. When

that kind of sector rotation tends to happen it generally

benefits the TSX."

The TSX's forward price earnings ratio, a key valuation

metric, at 14.3, is much less than the 22.4 level for U.S.

benchmark the S&P 500, data from LSEG shows.

The energy sector rallied 3.4% as the price of oil

settled 1.1% higher at $81.63 a barrel.

Gold and copper prices also climbed. That helped lift the

materials group, which includes metal miners and

fertilizer companies, with the sector adding 1.1%.

Heavily weighted financials added 1.7%, while the

utilities group, which includes many high-dividend

paying shares that could particularly benefit from further

interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada, was up 2.4% and real

estate added 2.1%.

There is enough slack in the Canadian labor market to allow

for growth and the creation of more jobs even as the inflation

rate continues to decline, BoC Governor Tiff Macklem said.

Technology lost ground, falling 0.6%, as some

major U.S. chip stocks gave back some of this year's sharp

gains.