Toronto stocks finished higher Thursday, as the market reacted to higher resource prices and the announcement that Hudson’s Bay Co. had accepted an acquisition offer from a group led by Jerry Zucker.

The S&P/TSX composite index moved up 62.27, or 0.53%, to 11,7347.43.

Volume on the senior exchange was 376 million shares.

The Bay announced it has accepted an offer of $15.25 a share from Maple Leaf Heritage Investments, headed by Jerry Zucker, representing a price of slightly over $1 billion for company. Shares in HBC fell 2¢, or 0.13%, to $15.03.

Seven of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, including the energy sector, which gained 1.07%, after dropping 1.93% in the previous session.

A barrel of light crude settled up 41¢ to US$66.26 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Suncor Energy Inc. reported its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled to $694 million, and it is forecasting even higher oil production in 2006. Suncor shares rose $2.02, or 2.36%, to $87.77.

The materials sector gained 1.17%. Gold futures fell $5 to US$559.90 an ounce.

The financials sector lifted 0.16%.

AGF Management Ltd. said its 2005 profit rose 19% from last year. Its shares fell 85¢, or 3.56%, to $23.

The Bank of Canada’s monetary policy outlook called for an increase in economic growth this year to 3.1%, a small uptick from the bank’s previous projection.

The Canadian dollar finished up 0.09 of a cent at US86.93¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 16.71 points, or 0.67%, to 2,490.31.

In New York, strong corporate earnings from Caterpillar Inc., AT&T Corp., among others, rallied the market, despite news of heavy losses from General Motors Corp.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 99.73 points , or 0.93%, to 10,809.47.

The S&P500 added 9.15, or 0.72%, to 1,273.83, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 22.35, or 0.99%, to 2,283.00.

GM reported a weak fourth quarter, and said it lost US$8.6 billion, or $15.13 per share, for fiscal 2005.