North American stock markets closed well off their session highs on Thursday as initial enthusiasm over an upbeat U.S. jobs report fizzled. The S&P/TSX composite Index ended the day up 35.19 points at 7,604.49.

Toronto traders are looking ahead to Friday’s September employment numbers.

The TSX gold index fell about 1.5% after December gold futures tumbled following a report that initial jobless claims in the U.S. hit their lowest level in eight months.

Place Dome lost 11¢ to $18.24.

Kinross Gold lost 19¢ to $10.02 after reporting that it is acquiring Denver-based gold miner Crown Resources in a stock deal worth $134 million.

TD Bank rose $1.10 to $41.39 — a 52-week high — following a report that it’s trying to arrange a merger between its TD Waterhouse discount brokerage unit and a major American discount brokerage company.

The TSX health-care sector rose 1.25% after slumping nearly 4% yesterday.

Biovail closed up $1.35 at $34.90. Axcan Pharma added 58¢ to $17.90 after it announced it had acquired the North American rights to three drugs from Aventis of France.

Among technology stocks, Nortel lost 18¢ to $5.94; Research in Motion shed 65¢ to $57.70.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 2.21 points to 1,396.14.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average closed with a 49.11-point gain at 9,680.01. Earlier in the session the Dow was up as much as 130 points.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed up 18.12 points at 1911.90. The broader S&P 550 gained 4.95 points to 1,038.73.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.23¢ at US74.76¢.