Energy issues lifted Toronto stocks to a higher close on Thursday. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 12.05 points, or 0.13%, to close at 9,174.41.

It was the index’s third straight gain and lessened its year-to-date loss to 0.78%. Volume was strong at 296 million shares.

Today’s gains were concentrated as only four of the 10 TSX groups finished higher.

The healthcare sector rose 0.96% to lead all groups, while the more heavily weighted energy group rose 0.6%.

Strong profits at Petro-Canada, Shell Canada Ltd. and Suncor Energy built momentum in the energy sector, which also got support from oil prices that rose toward US$50 a barrel.

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources rose $1.31, or 2.4%, to $55.31, while Talisman Energy gained 56¢, or 1.5%, to $37.17.

The information technology dropped 1.3% slide as news that Sierra Wireless Inc. expects to report an unexpected first-quarter loss and a huge drop in sales sent investors racing for the exits.

Shares of Sierra Wireless plummeted $6.70, or nearly 38%, to $11.10, while Research In Motion shed $2.55, or 2.8%, to $86.40.

Among financial stocks, shares of Sun Life Financial dropped 17¢, or 0.42%, to $40.18, even though the insurer reported a gain in fourth-quarter profit, and boosted its dividend 9%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index advanced 4.35 points, or 0.24%, to close at 1,803.96.

On Wall Street, U.S. blue chip stocks closed lower snapping a two-day winning streak, as disappointing earnings from companies such as Caterpillar Iput pressure on the Dow, but gains in Cisco Systems helped the tech-heavy Nasdaq nudge higher.

Cisco rose nearly 3%, or 49¢ to US$18.18, after Lehman Brothers forecast mostly strong first-quarter results. The company, the biggest maker of gear to direct Internet traffic, reports results in early February.

After the closing bell, Microsoft said its quarterly profit and revenue rose on stronger demand for personal computers as well as healthy sales in its video games business.

Its shares closed the ordinary trading session up 10 cents at US$26.11.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 31.19 points, or 0.30%, at 10,467.40. The S&P 500 was up 0.48 points, or 0.04%, at 1,174.55. The Nasdaq composite index was up 1.06 points, or 0.05%, at 2,047.15.