Toronto stocks climbed steadily Thursday afternoon as advancing energy stocks gave direction to trading. U.S. markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday;

The TSE 300 gained 51.60 points to 7,382.50. Volume was light, in line with the U.S. holiday, at 91 million shares. U.S. markets will also close early tomorrow at 13:00 ET.

Overall, 11 of the TSE 14 sub-indices closed higher. Oil stocks swelled 2.94% on reports that Russia was close to announcing production cuts in line with OPEC requests. OPEC is seeking to cut crude oil output in an effort to pump up sagging prices.

Alberta Energy Co. gained $2.65, or 4.6%, to $60.50, while Talisman Energy rose $2.50, or 4.6%, to end at $56.75.

Industrial products, home of the TSE’s tech stock, rose 0.94%, led by Celestica, which gained. $1.45 to $64.15.

Market breadth was positive as advances outpaced declines 586 60 424.

In keeping with today’s light volume, the most active issue today was penny stock Tiomin Resources at 4.8 million shares. It gained 1¢, a whopping 81% to 4.5¢.

Venture capital stocks also posted gains today. The CDNX index closed up 4.72 at 3,077.42 Trading was active on a volume of 27.5 million shares, with 159 advances and 175 declines.