Bank shares and energy stocks fuelled Toronto markets, while oil stocks and a U.S. report showing encouraging economic growth helped kick-start Wall Street.

At midday, the S&P/TSX was up 87.38 points or 0.90% to 9745.12 after sliding 18 points Thursday. The TSX Venture exchange was ahead by 7.55 points or 0.38% to 1984.83. The Dow was flat much of the morning but jumped to life, coming in ahead by 42.49 points or 0.40% at 10791.28 as of noon ET, extending its 75-point gain from Thursday. The Nasdaq was up 3.99 or 0.19% to 2055.69 and the S&P 500 added 6.27 points or 0.52% to 1206.47.

The Canadian dollar was down slightly, by 0.01 of a cent to US80.68¢ as Statistics Canada reported the current account surplus with the rest of the world tumbled in the fourth quarter.

On Bay Street, the big driver was the Royal Bank of Canada, which reported that its earnings exceeded analysts’ expectations by a wide margin. RBC shares were up $4.85 or 7.24% to $71.85, pulling the financial sub-index of the TSX to a 1.11% gain.

Elsewhere, energy issues were up 2.29% as oil prices held above the US$51 mark.

In New York, stocks got a boost from oil company shares and a government report that showed growth in the fourth quarter was slightly better than Wall Street had expected.

Exxon Mobil Corp. jumped 2.94% or $1.80 to US$62.93 and contributed the biggest gains to the blue-chip Dow average and broader Standard & Poor’s index.

Meanwhile, gross domestic product, which measures total goods and services production within U.S. borders, grew at a revised 3.8% annual rate in the fourth quarter. Wall Street economists had forecast a 3.7%.

In overseas, trading, Asian markets finished mostly higher, tracking gains on Wall Street, with buyers in Tokyo snapping up shares of banks, automakers and technology companies.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues rose 127.1 points, or 1.1%, to close at 11,658.25. The Hang Seng Index climbed 96.18 points, or 0.7%, to end at 14,157.09.

London’s FTSE 100 index moved up 23.7 points at 4,995.8. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index was ahead 38.78 points at 4,343.07 while the Paris CAC 40 gained 41.72 points at 4,019.39.