TORONTO, Feb.15 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock index rose Thursday as gains in the financial sector and shares of TransCanada Corp offset a decline in natural resource companies

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 79.39 points, or 0.52 percent, to end the day at 15,407.66.

The Canadian dollar came to 0.80 U.S. dollar.

TransCanada was the biggest winner, climbing five percent to 56.33 Canadian dollars after it reported strong fourth-quarter profit.

The financials sector also added 0.4 percent as Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 0.7 percent to 72.81 Canadian dollars while Brookfield Asset Management rose 2.2 percent to 49.43 Canadian dollars.

Bombardier surged 11.3 percent to 3.66 Canadian dollars following better-than-expected results and as Delta Air Lines said it would go ahead with plans to buy some Canadian-made CSeries jets.

Canadian Tire Corp jumped 6.6 percent to 174.48 Canadian dollars after the retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly profit amid an early winter in some parts of the country.

Barrick Gold Corp lost three percent to 16.62 Canadian dollars after the world' s biggest gold producer forecast an output drop over the next four years.

The materials sector edged down 0.4 percent. Cenovus Energy dropped 5.3 percent to 9.36 Canadian dollars after the company said it was looking to sell assets in Western Canada's Deep Basin.