Canada's main stock index rose Monday, but it still lost ground for the third straight month.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 15.22 points, or 0.1 percent to closed the day at 15,143.87. For this month, the index lost 0.3 percent.

The heavily weighted financials sector rose 0.4 percent, helped by gains for some of Canada's major banks and insurance companies,with insurer Manulife Financial Corp rising 31 cents, or 1.2 percent, to 25.75 Canadian dollars while Sun Life progressed 25 cents to 47.88 Canadian dollars.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, edged up 0.3 percent.

First Quantum Mineral rose 33 cents, or 2.5 percent to 13.79 Canadian dollars, and Teck Resources surged 71 cents, or 2.7 percent, to 27.07 Canadian dollars.

Copper prices were at a two-year peak, boosted by a Chinese government-led infrastructure push that kept construction humming in the world's second-largest economy.

The energy sector was the biggest drag, falling 0.6 percent despite higher oil prices, with Encana down five cents at 12.42 Canadian dollars and MEG Energy slipped 22 cents, or 4.1 percent, to 5.15 Canadian dollars.

The Canadian dollar jumped 0.53 cents to 80.2 cents U.S. while oil prices gained 53 cents to 50.24 U.S. a barrel and gold prices up a dollar to 1,276.30 U.S. dollars an ounce.