CANADA STOCKS-TSX gains after Trump extends EU tariff deadline

By Sanchayaita Roy

May 26 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index surged on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump extended the deadline for European Union trade talks, providing a brief respite to investor concerns over his erratic trade policies.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 0.6% at 25,024.83 points.

On Sunday, Trump backed away from his threat to impose 50% tariffs on EU imports to July 9 from June 1, after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the 27-nation bloc needed more time to produce a deal.

However, despite global market sentiment steadying after new trade deals with the UK and China earlier this month, Trump's sweeping tariffs and pauses since April 2 continue to generate uncertainty among investors and companies.

"We are still continuing to play the game of reacting to short term (trade) announcements and letting it move markets," said Colin White, president and chief executive officer at Verecan Capital Management.

"The bigger issue that's getting a little less press is what's going on in the bond market ... that are probably more important to what expectations are for the global economy."

U.S. Treasury yields have climbed in recent weeks on concern about a worsening fiscal outlook for the U.S.

Focus will be on Statistics Canada's first-quarter GDP data on May 30, ahead of the central bank's interest rate decision next week.

"It'll be interesting to see how much of impact actually shows up in these numbers and that should inform going forward as to how much attention should be paid to future announcements," Colin added.

On the TSX, the information and technology .SPTTTK sector gained 1.1%.

Energy stocks .SPTTEN gained 0.8%, though oil prices were about flat.