Falling oil prices sent the Toronto Stock Exchange to its second-consecutive triple-digit loss Thursday, but helped boost U.S. markets unnerved by a surprising increase in first-time jobless claims.

At close, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 119.57 points or 1.22% at 9675.57 after losing 108.2 points Wednesday. The TSX Venture Exchange slid 55.27 points or 2.75% at 1954.69. Volume of the S&P/TSX composite was 302.6 million, up from 192 million on Wednesday.

Wall Street’s Dow industrial average shrugged off earlier losses to finish ahead by 45.89 points or 0.42% at 10851.51, while the Nasdaq lost 1.57 points or 0.08% to 2059.72 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 edged 2.24 points or 0.19% higher to 1209.25.

The Canadian dollar continued to rise on American dollar weakness. The C$ was up 0.11 of a cent at US83.06¢ late in the session after running up 0.6 cent Wednesday and a full U.S. cent the day before.

As was the case Wednesday, falling oil prices took their toll on Canadian markets as many investors locked in recent gains. Crude oil futures prices fell more than $1 a barrel Thursday, a sell-off that analysts attributed to profit-taking a day after traders tested near-record highs above US$55 a barrel. Light, sweet crude fell $1.23 to settle at US$53.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Analysts also said that worries about the approaching meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries were easing as it appeared to many observers that oil ministers would keep production at present levels. Moreover, the latest U.S. government petroleum supply report showed growth in crude oil inventories and only modest declines in supplies of gasoline and distillate fuel.

On the TSX, the energy sector fell 3.5%, with Petro-Canada and Imperial Oil Ltd. posting losses of 3.27% and 3.96%, respectively. Mining stocks also fell hard, down 2.94%, and gold shares were off 1% as a group. Only consumer and health care issues had anything to cheer about.

On Wall Street, blue-chip stocks gained as oil prices retreated, while technology stocks pared earlier losses as National Semiconductor Corp. beat Street estimates.

National Semiconductor jumped 5.5% to $21.09 after cost cutting and a move to more profitable products meant its results came in ahead of expectations.

Investors were also concerned about a U.S. Labour Department report that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits jumped by 17,000 last week to the highest level in two months.

Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year note was up 12/32 in price at with its yield at 4.46%. The 10-year Treasury note’s yield had hit a fresh seven-month peak on Wednesday as a shell-shocked market was shaken anew by fears of a flight from dollar assets.