TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto’s main stock index just managed to finish in positive territory yesterday, as stronger oil prices helped boost energy issues and helped offset worries about European debt levels.

US crude oil futures rose more than two percent to finish at $85.73 a barrel. Prices helped lift the overall energy group by 0.67 percent.

Suncor Energy led the rally, climbing 1.55 percent to C$34.69, while Canadian Oil Sands Trust climbed 2.36 percent to C$27.75. Penn West Energy trust was up 1.17 percent at C$22.49, while Enerplus Resources Fund gained 1.81 percent to C$28.74.

Husky Energy, which canceled plans to spin off its Southeast Asian operations and green-lighted a C$2.5 billion ($2.45 billion) Alberta oil sands project, was among the decliners, falling 3.72 percent to C$24.57.

“Oil prices are higher. Basically, the big reason was Ireland got bailed out, but I don’t really think it affects it all that much. I think it affects sentiment more,” said Laura Lau, a senior portfolio manager at Sentry Select Capital Corp.

Mining issues, a part of the all-important materials group, recovered some of their earlier losses, but the sector still ended down about 0.21 percent as stronger gold prices could not overcome lingering concerns about euro zone debt.

Barrick Gold was down 1.27 percent at C$51.19 while Kinross Gold slipped 2.81 percent to C$17.65.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended the day up 2.94 points, or 0.02 percent, at 12,895.65. Six of the TSX’s 10 main groups ended lower.

The financial group, another sector heavyweight, was marginally higher, up 0.07 percent. National Bank of Canada , which kicks off quarterly bank earnings today, was up 0.22 percent at C$68.73. Royal Bank of Canada, which reports on Friday, was an influential gainer, advancing 0.69 percent to C$55.38.

“Most people are at their position for the year-end and aren’t making a lot of changes.” said Ms Lau.

The markets were in the red for much of the day as concerns that other debt-plagued European countries would need rescuing persisted, even after Ireland’s 85-billion-euro loan package was endorsed by European Union finance ministers.

“I would say the sovereign debt concerns that weighed heavily on the markets early this morning have simmered down a bit. Clearly this is a long-running saga,” said Bob Gorman, chief portfolio strategist at TD Waterhouse.

“It really comes down to a tug-of-war between the macro economic issues, which are questionable shall we say, and the fundamentals, which are pretty good,” Mr. Gorman said.

In individual company news, shares of Uranium One fell as much as 15 percent before recovering, but still closed down 5.9 percent at C$5.09 after it said it would issue its special dividend in late December. One analyst speculated the drop was probably due to profit-taking ahead of the dividend.