May 8 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose to a five-week high on Thursday, as investors cheered corporate earnings as well as a limited bilateral trade deal between the U.S. and Britain that could signal an easing of tariff-related uncertainty.
Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), ended up 92.88 points, or 0.4%, at 25,254.06, its highest closing level since April 2.
"What's really bolstering investor optimism would be the announcement of the deal between the U.S. and the U.K," said Robert Gill, a portfolio manager at Fairbank Investment Management.
"The key thing is directionally that's positive and it infers that we might be beginning to move away from all these tariffs and moving back to a more constructive and globally integrated economy."
A prolonged trade war could increase the risks to Canadian financial stability by hurting banks and other institutions and by making it harder for households and businesses to pay down debt, the Bank of Canada said.
The energy sector rose 2.8% as the price of oil settled 3.2% higher at $59.91 a barrel.
Shares in Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO), jumped 9.1% after the oil and gas producer posted a fall in first-quarter profit but beat Wall Street estimates.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ.TO), Canada's largest oil producer, also reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit as well as record production. Its shares climbed 5%.
BCE Inc (BCE.TO), shares recouped some recent declines, ending 5.4% higher, after the communications company beat earnings estimates and slashed its dividend by more than 50%.
"By resetting the dividend they can then prudently address their capital allocation strategy and also start to attract some new institutional investors," Gill said.
Technology rose 1.4%, industrials added 1.1% and heavily weighted financials were up 0.7%.
The materials group, which includes metal mining shares, was a drag. It lost 1.3% as gold fell.
Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Sanchayaita Roy and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and David Gregorio
