TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index ended higher yesterday as energy shares rallied on a rise in oil prices, but the index see-sawed through the day, hurt by weakness in materials shares and a high level of uncertainty ahead of today's US jobs data.

The index's energy sector climbed 1.8 percent after oil futures rose more than two percent, supported by much lower than expected crude and gasoline inventory data as the beginning of the summer driving season spurred gasoline demand.

Heavyweight gainers included Canadian Natural Resources , up 2.9 percent at C$37.76, EnCana Corp, 3.1 percent higher at C$34.94, and Enbridge Inc, which rose 2.3 percent to C$49.06.

Also supporting energy names in the midst of the BP oil spill disaster was the belief that Canadian companies are safer bets.

"When you look at Canadian oil sands companies, you don't run into the same risks," said Luciano Orengo, portfolio manager at MFC Global Investment Management. "If anything goes wrong, the spillover will be contained to the lands."

The index's materials sector fell 1.4 percent on weaker metals prices.

Barrick Gold fell 1.6 percent to C$44.09, while Goldcorp ended down 2.2 percent at C$44.89, and Teck Resources dropped 2.6 percent to C$35.12.

"You've seen a drop in gold prices so there's some profit-taking in the gold sector on the back of that decline in gold," said Elvis Picardo, an analyst and strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver.

Another drag on the sector was fertiliser giant Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc, which slid 1.3 percent to C$101.78.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended 31.20 points, or 0.26 percent, higher at 11,811.87, with eight of its 10 main groups lower.

On the data front, US private sector employers added jobs in May and the services sector increased payrolls for the first time in more than two years, building evidence that the US labour market was picking up steam.

"It's a bit of a tug-of-war between the bulls and the bears right now," Orengo said.

"The bulls are saying the economic numbers are still pretty good, the economy is chugging along, first quarter earnings were good ..."