Toronto stocks powered higher on Thursday with energy shares boosted by a report that speculated the price of oil could drive above US$100 a barrel. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 128.12 points, or 1.35%, to finish at 9,612.38.

Crude oil futures topped US$55 US a barrel as a prominent U.S. brokerage firm Goldman Sachs. suggested that oil markets could be in for a “super spike” that could see prices go as high as US$105 a barrel.

The report pushed Toronto’s energy stocks up 3.68%.

Compton Petroleum rose 80¢, or 7.05%, to $12.15. Petro-Canada gained $3.18, or 4.74%, to finish at $70.25.

Overall, eight of the 10 TSX groups made gains.

The heavily weighed financials rose 0.73% higher after a report that some of Canada’s opposition political parties said they would support bank mergers.

Bank of Montreal gained $1.03, or 1.87%, to $56.18, and CIBC gained $1.26, or 1.75%, to finish at $73.36.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index ended its losing streak by jumping 42.11 points, or 2.28%, to finish at 1,886.46.

South of the border, surging oil prices weighed on U.S. markets., and insurer American International Group lost 3% after losing a prestigious credit rating.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 37.17 points, or 0.35%, at 10,503.76 and the S&P 500 Index was down just 0.82 of a point, or 0.07%, at 1,180.59. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 6.44 points, or 0.32%, at 1,999.23.

For the quarter, the Dow ended off 2.6% and the S&P 500 finished down 2.6%, making it the worst quarter for the S&P index in two years.

The Nasdaq fell 8.1%, its largest percentage decline since the third quarter of 2002, when it dropped 19.9%.