The TSX remained sharply higher in the mid-afternoon session, but gains were reduced by the continuous slump in info tech and materials shares.
The S&P/TSX composite index triumphed 130.78 points to close the session at 15,203.61
The Canadian dollar ducked 0.01 cents to 81.89 cents U.S.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals maintained its gains and even reached a record high of $286.92 on the back of a Bloomberg report from Wednesday on the drugmaker's ongoing talks to buy Egypt's Amoun Pharmaceutical.
Energy stocks triumphed, as Legacy Oil & Gas leaped 32 cents, or 11.9%, to $3.01, while Penn West Petroleum zoomed 17 cents, or 7.2%, to $2.53.
Financials also mushroomed higher, as Onex Corporation soared $1.41, or 2.1%, to $70.34, and CIBC gained $1.29, or 1.4%, to $95.81.
The metals and mining sector plunged on First Quantum Minerals, which plummeted 95 cents or 5.5%, to $16.30, while info tech shed much of its strength on the back of Open Text Corp., which was pummeled $7.91, or 13.2%, to $51.86
Trevali Mining was the most actively traded stock, shedding five cents, or 4.4%, to $1.08 on 10.8 million shares.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said the number of Canadians drawing employment insurance in March, totaled 517,900 people, up 5,900, or 1.1%, from February. Compared with March 2014, the number of EI beneficiaries rose 2,600, the first year-over-year increase since February 2010.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.09 points to 700.51
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were moving upwards, led by energy, gushing 2.2%, financials, better by 0.9%, and industrials, improving 0.8%.
The five laggards were co-weighed by information technology and the metals and mining group, each down 1.8%, while gold dulled 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday, with the NASDAQ outperforming, as investors eyed slightly lower bond yields and mostly shook off the morning's mixed economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished 0.34 points north of breakeven to 18,285.74, with Caterpillar leading gains and McDonald's the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 index recovered 5.03 points to 2,130.88, above its previous record close of 2,129.20 to set its 10th closing high for the year.
The NASDAQ gained 19.05 points to 5,090.79, as Apple gained 1% and Amazon closing up nearly 2%.
Salesforce ended 4% higher after a solid earnings report after the bell Wednesday. The business software provider beat estimates by two cents with adjusted quarterly profit of 16 cents U.S. per share, while revenue was in line with forecasts. The firm also increased its full-year forecast on increased subscription and services revenue.
Amazon.com closed up 1.8% after jumping more than 3% following the announcement that Amazon Prime Now is offering one-hour delivery from local stores In New York's Manhattan, including groceries, meals, and baked goods.
Shake Shack surged nearly 8.5% on a trademark filing that indicated the burger chain might be adding chicken to its menu.
Earnings on Thursday after the bell are expected to come from Hewlett-Packard, Gap and Intuit.
Before the bell, Best Buy reported adjusted quarterly profit of 37 cents U.S. per share, eight cents above estimates, with revenue beating forecasts, as well. Comparable-store sales were up 0.6%, compared to consensus estimates of a 0.1% increase
Hewlett-Packard announced it is selling 51% of its China-based data networking operation to China's Tsinghua Holdings.
Existing home sales for April fell 3.3%, missing an expected 1% gain to 5.24 million units. Earlier in the week, reports showed home builder sentiment fell in May, but housing starts for April came in much better than expected.
Manufacturing PMI came in at 53.8 for May, below expectations of 54.5. The initial read showed slowing growth for the second straight month, with new orders increasing at their slowest pace since January last year, financial research firm Markit said.
The Conference Board's leading indicator index, which forecasts future economic activity, for April showed a gain of 0.7%. The index was expected to register the 15th consecutive increase, given a decline in initial unemployment claims.
Weekly jobless claims came in at 274,000, above expectations of an increase to 271,000 from the prior week's 264,000. The four-week moving average remains the lowest since April 2000.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained, lowering yields to 2.20% from Wednesday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices spiked $1.71 a barrel to $60.69 U.S.
Gold prices fell $2.60 to $1,206.10 U.S. an ounce.
