(Updates prices, adds analyst comments) Nov 16 (Reuters) - Canada’s main stock index rose on Tuesday as commodity-focused shares led gains, although a rise in Treasury and domestic bond yields following strong U.S. retail sales and signs of a slowdown in the local housing market capped gains. At 9:51 a.m. ET (14:51 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 45.21 points, or 0.21%, at 21,728.29. Canada’s benchmark bond yield touched its highest level since May 2019 at 1.777% before dipping to 1.74%, up 2 basis points (bps) on the day, while the benchmark Treasury yield rose around 1 bps to 1.62% at 9:58 am ET. Data showed U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in October. “If we suddenly see Treasury yields to spike up and if they were to creep higher to touch the 2% mark, that is a near-term risk for the market coupled with the risk of inflation,” said Gregory Taylor, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments. Rising bond yields generally do not bode well for gold prices as it raises the opportunity cost of holding gold, affecting risk sentiment for the commodity-heavy stock index. The energy sector climbed 0.2% even as U.S. crude prices were down 0.7% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 0.4%. The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.1%. Producer prices in Canada most likely rose by 1.3% in October from the previous month, on higher prices for energy and petroleum products, while data showed Canadian housing starts fell 5.3% in October. HIGHLIGHTS The TSX posted seven new 52-week highs and one new low. Across all Canadian issues there were 49 new 52-week highs and 15 new lows, with total volume of 48.99 million shares. (Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni and Krishna Chandra Eluri)