* TSX up 0.6%

* Utilities biggest gainers

* First Quantum gains after report of mine stake sale talks

Jan 5 (Reuters) - Canada's main index climbed on Friday and was on track to end the week higher aided by utility stocks, while investors assessed the domestic and U.S. data showing signs of strength in the labor market.

At 10:06 a.m. ET (1506 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 129.17 points, or 0.62%, at 21,000.52.

Canadian shares have stabilised after starting 2024 on a tepid note due to uncertainty around rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve and geopolitical tensions. The TSX is now eyeing weekly gains of 0.2%.

Data from the U.S. and Canada hinted at resilience in the labor market, leading investors to scale back expectations of rate cuts.

U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in December while raising wages at a solid clip. Canada's economy added far fewer jobs than expected last month, though wages rose sharply.

"The Bank of Canada and for similar reasons the Fed are not going to be in a rush to cut rates because there's still some elements of the labor market suggesting that wage growth might be still feeding into higher inflation," said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones Investments.

Utility stocks were the top gainers, up 0.9%, while financials gained 0.7%.

Energy, which has outperformed other sectors this week, gained 0.8% as crude prices rose on growing Middle East concerns.

Company-wise, shares of First Quantum Minerals gained 2% after Reuters reported the Canadian miner is in talks to sell a stake in its Zambian copper mines to Chinese state-owned Jiangxi Copper Corp.

Shares of Rogers Communications, which briefly suffered service disruptions on Thursday, rose about 1%.

(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)