(Adds details, comments from portfolio manager; updates prices)
* TSX up 34.23 points, or 0.22 percent, at 15,338.47
* Seven of 10 main index sectors advance
* Air Canada, CP Rail drive gains in industrials
By John Tilak
TORONTO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index hit a
two-week high on Monday as concerns eased that the Ukraine
crisis may expand into a broader conflict, sending up shares in
most major sectors.
Fears of a regional conflagration over Ukraine started to
wane after Russia said on Sunday that weekend talks among
foreign ministers made progress in resolving differences.
Even so, investors remained unsettled when Ukraine accused
pro-Russian rebels on Monday of shooting rocket fire on a convoy
of buses of refugees, killing people trapped in burning
vehicles, but the separatists denied
responsibility.
The Toronto market was up for a third straight session and
has gained about 13 percent this year.
"Momentum has slowed somewhat, but sentiment is still quite
(positive) even after such a large rally in equities," said
Youssef Zohny, portfolio manager at Stenner Investment Partners
of Richardson GMP Ltd, which manages about C$28.3 billion in
assets.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
closed up 34.23 points, or 0.22 percent, at 15,338.47.
Seven of the 10 main sectors on the index were higher.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, added
0.4 percent, with Royal Bank of Canada climbing 0.7
percent to C$80.41 and Bank of Nova Scotia advancing
0.2 percent to C$72.55.
Shares of industrial companies rose 0.6 percent. Air Canada
jumped 5.9 percent to C$8.48, and Canadian Pacific
Railway Ltd gained 0.7 percent to C$214.34.
(Editing by W Simon and Meredith Mazzilli)