The Toronto stock market was up slightly Thursday afternoon on higher commodity prices but a low volume of overall trading, with little direction coming from south of the border where markets had U.S. Thanksgiving off.
The S&P TSX Composite Index closed up 43.82 points to 12,945.80
Experts say trading is typically light in Toronto when the major New York markets are closed and the TSX tends to remain flat. But they added that Thursday's slight rise was a continuation of a more positive trend that was interrupted earlier this week by renewed concerns over European debt and tensions between the Koreas.
The financial sector staged a moderate advance, before fourth-quarter earnings from Canada's big five banks, slated for release next week. TD Bank led its peers with a 50-cent increase in its stock price to $75.31.
Information technology stocks also made headway, as shares in market heavyweight Research In Motion rose 42 cents to $60.63 after it announced a deal to increase distribution of its signature BlackBerry in the Mideast.
Energy stocks gained on the higher oil prices with shares of Suncor Energy Inc. up nine cents at $34.48.
Shares of pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. fell 17 cents to $56.64.
Privately held Genalta Power Inc. said Enbridge would purchase an unspecified but "significant" equity position in the Calgary-based green energy company.
The mining sector was a drag on the TSX, despite higher copper prices and a rising uranium stocks.
Shares of Cameco Corp. gained 60 cents to $38.18 Thursday after it announced it had signed an agreement to supply 13 million kilograms of uranium to China and shares of Uranium One Inc. were up 9.7% or 48 cents to $5.45 after receiving final regulatory approval to sell a controlling interest in the company to Russia's state-owned ARMZ.
Investors are digesting a Statistics Canada report that showed stronger average weekly earnings in September -- the second straight month with year-over-year growth over 4%.
Non-farm payrolls were up 4.3% from a year earlier to $864.13. The pace of growth in earnings has been increasing in recent months.
The price of gold gained $1.52 to $1.374.86 U.S. an ounce. Oil surged $2.58 a barrel to $83.83 U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX/Venture Exchange was up 25.43 points to 2,049.01 while the Nasdaq Canada index added 17.12 points to 733.82.
In Toronto, all but four of the 14 subgroups ended the day higher. Financials moved up 0.6%, while information technology issues strengthened 0.5% and industrials gained 0.3%.
Health-care stocks slid 0.3%, as did the metals and mining group, and consumer staples were off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. They will open Friday, but close at 1 p.m. ET.
