June 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rebounded from a near four-month low on Thursday as railroad stocks rallied and higher commodity prices lifted metal mining shares.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) New Tab, opens new tab ended up 65.45 points, or 0.3%, at 21,581.35, after it posted on Wednesday its lowest closing level since Feb. 29.

"The materials sector is really driving the market higher today," said Kevin Headland, co-chief investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management.

"We got a bit of a bounce back in the two rail companies as well. There is a bit of volatility recently in those two names due to the overhang of potential strike action."

The materials group (.GSPTTMT) New Tab, opens new tab, which includes metal miners and fertilizer companies, rose 1.9%, clawing back some recent declines, as gold and copper prices rallied.

Industrials ended 0.8% higher, with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd (CP.TO) New Tab, opens new tab gaining 2.3% and Canadian National Railway Co (CNR.TO) New Tab, opens new tab up 0.9%.

The Canadian trucking industry is on tenterhooks as talks between the Teamsters union, which represents more than 9,000 workers, and the country's two largest railroads drag on over a new contract.

Energy (.SPTTEN) New Tab, opens new tab was also up, gaining 0.5%, as the price of oil climbed to a seven-week high. U.S. crude oil futures settled 0.7% higher at $87.17 a barrel.

Shares of Empire Company Ltd (EMPa.TO) New Tab, opens new tab rose 5.4% after the food retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Among the sectors losing ground was information technology (.SPTTTK) New Tab, opens new tab. It declined 0.6%, with Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) New Tab, opens new tab down 6.8%.

The utilities group (.GSPTTUT) New Tab, opens new tab closed lower for the tenth straight day, falling 0.8%, as bond yields moved higher.

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-rise-commodity-boost-us-data-focus-2024-06-20/