Toronto stocks got a boost Thursday after Rogers Communications announced plans to take its wireless arm private, and high bullion prices lifted gold stocks. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 36.63 points, or 0.41%, at 8,878.30. Volume was a light 93 million shares.

Trading is expected to remain light because of Remembrance Day ceremonies in Canada on Thursday and Veterans Day in the United States.

All but three of the TSX index’s main groups were higher, led by a 1.82% boost in the telecommunications group, and a 1% gain in the materials group. The gold index, which is a component of the materials group, was up 0.77%.

Telecommunications stocks were led higher by Rogers Wireless, which climbed $6.44, or 14.08%, to $49.61, after its parent company, Rogers Communications launched a bid to take the wireless arm private.

Rogers Communications dropped 38¢, or 1.32%, to $28.32.

Gold-mining stocks continued to enjoy high bullion prices, which hovered around 16-year highs. Goldcorp shares rose 51¢, or 3%, to $17.37. Iamgold rose 19¢, or 2.2%, to $8.76.

Technology stocks tempered the gains with a 0.6% drop on news of more delays for Nortel Networks in filing its corporate results.

Nortel dropped 26¢, or 6%, to $4.02 after it said it has again delayed filing its restated financial results, mainly because of revenue reporting problems.

The heavily weighted financial group was up 0.62%. Shares of Power Financial gained 58¢, or 1.9%, to $30.60 after the holding company said its operating earnings for the quarter were $385 million or 52¢ per share, compared with $319 million or 43¢ per share for the same period in 2003, an increase of 20%. The firm also increased its dividend.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index inched up 1.62 points to 1,632.67.

U.S. stocks were higher on Thursday, helped by technology shares like Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. , which received a brokerage upgrade, and crude oil prices dropping below $48 a barrel.

At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 42.03 points, or 0.40%, at 10,427.51. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 11.08 points, or 0.54%, to 2,045.64. The broader S&P 500 gained 5.08 points, or 0.44%, to 1,167.99.