Toronto stocks powered ahead Thursday amid rising prices for crude oil and gold. The S&P/TSX composite index gained 93.73 points, or 1.0%, to finish at 9,496.36.

Volume was heavy with 348 million shares changing hands.

Only four of the 10 main TSX groups finished higher: energy, financials, industrials and materials.

Energy shares led the gainers, rising 2.87%, after the price of U.S. crude rose $1.64 to US$47.10 a barrel on worries over world supplies.

Nexen added $4.10, or 8.0%, to $55.32, after reporting a return to profitability in the fourth quarter.

Canadian Natural Resources rose $3.21, or 5.36%, to $63.06, after giving the go-ahead to a $10.8 billion oil sands project in northern Alberta.

Gold shares gained 2.92% as the price of April bullion gained $4.20 to US$418.70.

Placer Dome rose 93¢, or 4.47%, to finish at $21.72.

Gold miners helped push the overall materials index up 2.06%, with nickel-miner Inco rising $1.64, or 3.9%, to $43.69.

The heavily weighted financials group rose 0.90%. Within the group, shares in Manulife Financial climbed $1.90, or 3.38%, to $58.10.

Fourth-quarter profit at Manulife Financial Corp. jumped 77% due to a strong contribution from its John Hancock acquisition in the United States, the insure said today.

Specialty insurer Kingsway Financial Services Inc. said its fourth-quarter profit doubled, as underwriting surged in both Canada and the United States.

Kingsway shares closed up 44¢, or 2.23%, at $19.75.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index jumped 28.94 points, or 1.59%, to end at 1,852.15.

On Wall Street, U.S. blue chips closed at a 2005 high on Thursday as healthy earnings and better-than-expected economic data lifted Wall Street’s mood.

American International Group, the world’s largest insurer by market value, helped push the blue-chip Dow average higher, jumping 3.9% a day after it said fourth-quarter profit rose 11%.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 85.50 points, or 0.80%, at 10,749.61. The S&P 500 Index was up 5.02 points, or 0.42%, at 1,197.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.55 point, or 0.03%, at 2,053.10.

After the closing bell, Dell Inc., the world’s largest personal computer maker, posted sales just shy of Wall Street expectations. Dell shares fell 2.5% to US$40.52 in after-hours trading.