TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index followed its heavyweight financial shares to a higher close yesterday, helped by US data that offered further evidence that recession may be losing its grip on the economy.

The financial sector, which accounts for about a third of the index, rose 1.85 percent to its highest closing level since early November after data showed US consumer spending rose in May for the first time since February.

Shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank, the biggest driver behind the gain, rose 3.3 percent to C$60.57, while Royal Bank of Canada shares ended up 2.2 percent at C$47.54.

"My sense is that it's a response to the positive US data this morning," said Kate Warne, Canadian market strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis, Missouri.

"The fact that consumers in the States have actually made a very rapid adjustment to this new environment suggests to me that we will see consumers spending at a pretty normal pace."

The gain in the TSX index would have been much greater if not for the slide in its energy and materials sectors, both of which slid as commodity prices backed off recent highs.

Still, the S&P/TSX composite index closed 33.91 points, or 0.33 percent, higher at 10,389.76.

Seven of its 10 sectors ended higher.

For the week, the index rose 0.99 percent, a big turnaround from early in the week when it was down 5.4 percent after the World Bank said that prospects for the global economy remained "unusually uncertain".