Gains on the Toronto stock market accelerated more than 100 points Thursday afternoon as advances in all indices outweighed weaker gold prices that sent the influential sector into negative territory.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed the day ahead 131.46 points, or 1.1%, to 12,424.84
The Canadian dollar perked 0.54 of a cent to 101.62 cents U.S.
The energy sector on the TSX added strength, with shares in Suncor Energy Inc. up 49 cents to $29.93.
In the gold arena, shares in Barrick Gold Corp. were flat at $52.16.
Copper added seven cents to $3.96 U.S. a pound. Mining issues were the main driver of the Toronto market, with shares in Teck Resources Ltd. up 81 cents at $39.97.
In Canadian corporate news, shares in Research In Motion lost 51 cents to $28.98 ahead of its second-quarter earnings results slated to be released after markets close. Late August sales of updated BlackBerrys are expected to give Research In Motion a boost.
Bombardier Inc. said its Toronto manufacturing site will handle final assembly of its new Global 7000 and Global 8000 business jets and an RBC Capital Markets survey said interest remains high in Bombardier's new CSeries aircraft but many airlines feel no sense of urgency to place orders.
Shares added 3.8% or 16 cents to $4.36.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that auto sales dipped 6.2% in July to 132,386 units.
However, manufacturing sales rose 2.7% to $46.7 billion in July after three straight declines.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 10.46 points to 1,764.30, while the Nasdaq Canada index was down 0.48 points to 517.65
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher on the day. Metals and mining and the financial group spiked 2.2% apiece, while energy stocks were better by 1.7%.
The three laggards were gold, down 1.2%, materials, sliding 0.7%, and telecoms, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, bank stocks led the broader market higher Thursday as investors welcomed a coordinated effort by five central banks to help ward of a credit crisis in Europe.
The Dow Jones Industrials zoomed 186.45 points, or 1.7%, to 11,433.20
The S&P 500 advanced 20.43 points to 1,209.11, while the Nasdaq hiked 34.52 points to 2,607.07.
The European Central Bank, the U.S. Federal Reserve and three other major central banks agreed to step in to boost dollar liquidity for banks in Europe
The move comes amid signs of a pullback in bank-to-bank lending as European Union officials struggle to resolve long-standing sovereign debt issues.
Shares of French, German and Spanish banks all rallied, with gains spilling over to U.S. banks.
Shares of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup all shot up more than 1.5% on the news.
UBS shares traded in the U.S. plunged 11%, after the Swiss bank said unauthorized trading resulted in about $2 billion U.S. in losses.
While UBS said no client positions were affected by the loss, the investment bank cautioned that it could report a third-quarter loss as a result.
Netflix shares fell 15.8%, after the video rental company reduced its forecast for third-quarter subscriptions in the United States.
Economically speaking, the U.S. Consumer Price Index showed prices rose at an annual rate of 3.8% in August.
The government's weekly report on initial claims for jobless benefits came in higher than expected, with claims rising to 428,000 in the latest week from 414,000. Economists had expected a modest decline.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Empire State Manufacturing Survey worsened to -8.9 in September from -7.7 in August.
Another reading on a regional manufacturing, the Philadelphia Fed index, showed manufacturing activity slowed in the mid-Atlantic area in September, although less than expected.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped sharply, increasing the yield to 2.08% from 2.01% late Wednesday. Prices and yields for Treasurys move in opposite directions.
Oil for October delivery improved 41 cents to $89.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery fell $44.30 to $1,782.20 U.S. an ounce
