* TSX up 0.15 percent at 9,762.15

* Financials up 1.38 percent

* Materials sink 0.62 percent (Adds details, quote)

By Nina Lex

TORONTO, July 13 (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index turned positive late on Monday morning after sliding more than 1 percent earlier in the day as financial shares rose after a prominent U.S. banking analyst upgraded Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

The financials sector, which accounts for about 30 percent of the TSX index, was up 1.38 percent after analyst Meredith Whitney upgraded Goldman to a "buy" rating. [ID:nBNG121776]

"Meredith Whitney seems to be the financial analyst that people pay attention to," said Steve Ibel, institutional equities trader at Beacon Securities in Halifax. "It will give the market a bit of a lift in the financial sector. But it probably will be a one-day event."

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) was the index's biggest heavyweight advancer, up 2.26 percent to C$46.10.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 1.43 percent to C$41.05, and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) was up 1.27 percent at C$57.54.