Strong performances in the gold, information technology, and health care sectors lifted Toronto stocks to a higher close Thursday. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 69.06 points to finish at 7,956.18.

Health care issues rose 3.68%, as Biovail shares jumped $2.22, or 9.34%, to close at $22 following news that Jimmy Pattison has taken a 2% stake in the stock, but doesn’t plan to seek an active role with the firm.

The information tech sector climbed 3.58%. ATI Technologies closed up $1.55 at $20.24, Celestica rose 96¢ to $19.20 while Nortel Networks gained 19¢ to $5.59.

Gold-miners rose 3.47% despite softer bullion prices. Bema Gold gained 36¢ to $4.73 and Cambior closed up 23¢ at $4.07.

Among individual stocks, Sherritt reported that it is eliminating its dual-class share structure, effective immediately. The stocked rose 25¢ to $6.35.

Petro-Canada shares rose 70¢ to $60.03 after the firm cut back its plans for an Edmonton refinery, saying that it will still spend $1.2 billion on the renovation.

Quebecor World said it is shutting its head office in Connecticut, cutting 50 jobs, to save money. The stock gained 97¢ to $23.40.

In other earnings news, MDS Inc. said that its earnings decreased to $48 million in 2003. Its shares rose 43¢ to $19.13.

Among the sessions loser’s, CI Fund Management shares fell 67¢, or 4.5%, to close at $14.23 after the company said on Tuesday that it was no longer considering converting itself to an income trust

Toronto volume was 276 million shares.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 4.82 points to finish at 1,639.13.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 for the first time in nearly 19 months, buoyed by positive reports on U.S. retail sales and comments from the Federal Reserve indicating that inflation would remain low over the next year.

The Dow rose 86.30 points to finish the day at 10,008.16. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 37.67 points, or almost 2%, to close at 1,942.32. The Nasdaq got a boost from strong forecasts from semiconductor makers.

The broader S&P 500 added 12.17 points to finish at 1,071.21

The Canadian dollar dropped by more than a cent in heavy selling before recovering some of its losses on Thursday. The Canadian dollar fell 0.62¢ to close at US75.86 cents.

Concerns over the future of the gap between Canada and the United States interest rates have helped put the loonie under pressure this week.

Also on Thursday, there were reports Canadian Public Works Minister Ralph Goodale be named finance minister when Paul Martin becomes Canada’s next prime minister.