* TSX ends up 0.2% at 34,478.74
* Energy adds 1.6% as oil settles 0.8% higher
* TD Cowen raises price target on defense companies
* BoC interest rate decision due on Wednesday (Updates at market close)
By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Fergal Smith
June 8 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index clawed back some of the previous session’s sharp decline on Monday, with energy and technology shares leading gains as investors weighed signs of cooling tensions in the Middle East.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 65.29 points, or 0.2%, at 34,478.74, after posting on Friday its biggest decline in nearly four months.
* U.S. stocks also rebounded after a sharp selloff on Friday, led by gains in the Nasdaq and chipmakers.
* Iran and Israel said they had halted attacks on each other after an appeal from U.S. President Donald Trump that they immediately “stop ‘shooting'”, though Tehran said it would resume strikes if Israel continued to hit Hezbollah in Lebanon.
* “For the markets, they’re taking it more in stride now,” said Allan Small, senior investment advisor at Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth. “It’s like anything that goes on for a long period of time… the bar is very high to have an effect.”
* The energy sector rose 1.6% as the price of oil settled 0.8% higher at $91.30 a barrel.
* Technology was up 0.9%, with shares of electronic equipment company Celestica Inc adding 3.8%.
* TD Cowen raised its price target on a number of Canadian defense companies, including Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO and Magellan Aerospace MAL.TO.
* Shares of Magellan ended 6.4% higher, while heavily weighted financials added 0.4%.
* The Canadian government is launching a new loan program to help domestic airlines deal with high fuel prices and maintain operations and jobs, the finance ministry said.
* Shares of Air Canada were down 0.7%.
* Investors awaited a Bank of Canada interest rate decision on Wednesday. The central bank was expected to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 2.25% for a fifth straight meeting, according to a majority of economists polled by Reuters. (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara and Alistair Bell)
