Toronto stocks closed higher Thursday as crude oil stayed above US$51 a barrel. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 69.53 points, 0.73%, at 9,579.05.

Volume was 197 million shares worth $3.43 billion.

The July contract for light sweet crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange finished three¢ higher at US$51.01 a barrel after going as high as US $51.70.

The TSX energy sector was 1.02% higher as Husky Energy Inc. climbed 86¢ to $40.17 and Suncor Energy Inc. rose 83¢ to $48.44.

The financial sector was up 0.23% as investors reacted to more bank earnings.

TD Bank shares were ahead 53¢ at $52.17 after second-quarter profits jumped 22% to $599 million.

National Bank rose 45¢ to $52.50 after it reported a 12% increase in second-quarter profit with a strong performance by its personal and commercial banking division.

The materials sector rose 1.36%, as Abitibi-Consolidated rose 24¢ to $5.31 and Alcan. moved up 73¢ to $38.33 after announcing it will issue US$500 million of 5% 10-year notes and $300 million of 5.75% 30-year notes.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite was ahead 16.37, or 1.02%, at 1,621.88.

In New York, indexes were also higher as a better-than-expected reading on the U.S. economy cancelled out investor worries about the cost of oil.

The Dow Jones industrial average was 79.80 points higher at 10,537.60. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index moved up 21.12 to 2,071.24 while the S&P 500 index gained 7.61 to 1,197.62.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that the American economy rang up a solid 3.5% annualized growth rate in the first quarter, a sign of a strong springtime business expansion. The latest reading was an upgrade from the 3.1% pace initially estimated.