TSX notches five-week high as financials and technology climb

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose to a five-week high on Thursday as financial and technology shares led broad-based gains, while Husky Energy Inc fell more than 8 percent after an explosion at the company's refinery in Wisconsin. - The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> ended up 127.84 points, or 0.82 percent, at 15,637.59, its highest close since March 21. - Gains for the index came as U.S. stocks were boosted by solid earnings results and a pullback in U.S. bond yields, after investors had worried this week that higher bond yields would raise global borrowing costs. - Financials, which account for more than one-third of the weight of the TSX, climbed 1.1 percent and the information technology group advanced 1.4 percent. - The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Precision Drilling , which rose 5.3 percent. The company reported a smaller-than-expected loss on Thursday as its U.S. clients deployed more of the company's rigs to take advantage of rising oil prices. - All of the index's 10 main groups ended higher, with energy advancing 0.5 percent as oil prices rose. - U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 settled 0.2 percent higher at $68.19 a barrel, supported by the risk of renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran, plunging Venezuelan output and robust global demand. - The largest decliner on the index was Husky Energy, down 8.1 percent. The refinery explosion injured at least 10 people, sent smoke billowing into the sky and shook a building a mile away, officials at hospitals and the fire department said, on the same day that the company reported financial results. - The TSX posted six new 52-week highs and three new lows. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Peter Cooney)