CANADA STOCKS-Energy, material stocks push TSX higher

March 29 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose onThursday, boosted by strong gains in the energy and materialsectors.

* Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resourcesand Enbridge were among the top four boosts to theindex, rising between 0.8 and 1.6 percent.

* Prices of Brent crude oil and of spot goldwere flat, recovering from dips earlier in the session.

* Nine of the eleven sector groups were in positiveterritory.

* A report showed economic growth data unexpectedly slowedin January in a clear sign that first-quarter growth is likelyto be weaker than the Bank of Canada had predicted.

* Canada's growth dwindled 0.1 percent last month, whileanalysts were expecting a rise of 0.1 percent after a revised0.2 percent gain in December.

* "This reinforces the point that there is little urgency tohike rates again," said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMOFinancial Group.

* At 9:41 a.m. ET (1341 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange'sS&P/TSX Composite Index was up 104.33 points, or 0.69percent, to 15,274.27.

* Still, the index is on track for its biggest quarterlydrop in more than two years.

* The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Methanex, which rose 3.8 percent, while the largest decliner wasPrometic Life Sciences, down 26.6 percent.

* Among the most active stocks by volume were Neovasc Inc, Prometic Life Sciences and Aurora Cannabis.

* The TSX posted no new 52-week highs and three new lows.Across all Canadian issues there were four new 52-week highs andnine new lows.

* Volume on the TSX index was 14.19 million shares, whilethe total volume on Thursday was 24.23 million shares.(Reporting by Medha Singh; Editing by Savio D'Souza)