North American markets finished in the black for the first time in the young new year as oil stocks fuelled Bay Street and retail stocks helped boost Wall Street.

At close, the S&P/TSX was up 43.21 points or 0.48% to 9064.26, halting a skid that saw the TSX post back-to-back triple-digit losses. The TSX Venture Exchange was mostly unchanged, up 0.82 to 1766.28.

Volume on the S&P/TSX was 273.4 million shares.

The Dow industrial average held on to close up 25.05 points or 0.24% at 10622.88, while the S&P 500 added 4.15 or 0.35% to 1187.89. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was the only loser, slipping 1.24 points or 0.06% to 2090.00.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.67 of a cent to US80.89¢ late in the day following declines of almost 1.75¢ over the past two sessions.

On Bay Street, an increase in oil stocks offset losses by the financial, gold and information technology sub-groups. The TSX energy group added 1.88% as crude for February delivery ended up US$2.17 or 5% at US$45.56 a barrel in New York. Big movers included Encana Corp., up 1.76% to $66.35, and Talisman Energy, up 4.7% $33.48.

Among financials, Royal Bank of Canada dipped 0.2% to $63.38, and Barrick Gold was off 2.18% to $27.07. Tech shares slipped as a group despite a 1.95% jump by Nortel Networks to $4.18.

Gold stocks were hurt by another dip in bullion prices. February gold dropped $5.70, or 1.3%, to end at US$421.60 an ounce, tallying a four-session losing streak of almost $17.

On Wall Street, retail stocks helped save the day and offset the jump in oil prices and a worse-than-expected economic report.

Investors reacted with equanimity to a sharper-than-expected rise in weekly jobless claims ahead of the U.S. report on payrolls and unemployment for December. The number of new people signing up for U.S. jobless benefits shot up last week by 43,000 to 364,000, the highest level since September. Economists had expected claims to rise last week to around 331,000.

But U.S. retailers reported a generally solid holiday season. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. added 1.4% to US$54.05 on its in-line same-store sales performance for December. Costco Wholesale posted a 9% jump in same-store sales, helped by higher gasoline prices and positive foreign-exchange factors. Costco shares climbed 1.4% to US$47.90. J.C. Penney shares climbed 0.1% to $40.78, after the department-store chain said it expects to hit the high end of its current earnings forecast range for the fourth quarter.

But Target took it on the chin, slipping 5.4% to US$48.50