CANADA STOCKS-TSX rises to two-week high on US-Iran talk hopes, tech gains

By Avinash P and Darshan Kumar R

Sept 22 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday, hitting a two-week high amid broad-based gains, as investors assessed the prospects of potential US-Iran talks at this week's UN meeting that could help bring an end to the six-month-old Middle East conflict.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index .GSPTSE was up 0.6% at 36,242.73 points by 10:24 a.m. ET, the highest since September 8. Eight of the index's 10 main sectors were in the green.

• Iran and the United States hinted at the prospect of reviving negotiations to end their conflict on Tuesday, with presidents of both countries attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

• The information technology sector .SPTTTK rose 2.3%, leading gains on the TSX, with e-commerce major Shopify SHOP.TO up nearly 8% and BlackBerry BB.TO up 2.8%.

• Oil prices fell below $100 a barrel to a two-week low, as prospects for Gulf supplies improved, with Iran signaling it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days and Saudi Arabia set to resume exports from its Red Sea port. O/R

• Sliding oil prices dragged the energy sector .SPTTEN down 0.3%, after briefly touching its lowest in a month.

• "Oil goes down, you have oil stocks going down. But you could see the other side of it, which is banks, tech and others go higher because of oil going down. So it has a positive and negative side," said Allan Small, senior investment advisor at Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth

• Despite the recent pullback in oil prices, the broader energy sector has risen more than 45% year-to-date, helping drive gains in the TSX, which is up more than 14% so far this year, outperforming the US benchmark S&P 500's .SPX 13.5% gain.

• The materials index .GSPTTMT gained 1.6%, tracking higher prices of base metals.

• Investors will also watch retail sales data due on Thursday for signals on the health of Canadian consumers.