Toronto stocks ended higher on Thursday, boosted by mining and financial issues, as fears over the U.S. subprime mortgage market continued to ease.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 65.59 points, or 0.5%, at 12,874.32.

All 10 of the TSX main groups were higher, with the materials group up 1.4% and financials up 0.5%.

Manulife Financial was up 29¢, or 0.8%, to $39.17.

The gold sector advanced 1.9% as the April bullion contract on the Nymex moved ahead US$4.60 to US$647.10 an ounce.

Among gold mining shares, Barrick Gold gained 63¢, or 1.9%, to $33.03, while Goldcorp added 34¢, or 1.2%, to $28.29.

Iamgold rose 10¢, or 1.1%, to $8.99 after posting a 52% jump in quarterly profit, lifted by higher gold prices and increased production.

Shares of oil and gas companies ended flat, down 0.05%, amid lower crude prices as OPEC members agreed to keep the group’s supply unchanged.

Nexen rose 49¢, or 0.8%, to $65.01, while Canadian Oil Sands Trust climbed 87¢, or 3.4%, to $26.30.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index climbed 44.07 points, or 1.46%, to finish at 3,053.54.

The Canadian dollar declined 0.05 of a cent to US85.01¢.

In New York, U.S. stocks rose on Thursday after M&A action eased concerns about the subprime mortgage market.

Electronic energy marketplace IntercontinentalExchange made a surprise offer for CBOT Holdings Inc., the parent of the Chicago Board of Trade.

The bid by ICE pushed CBOT shares up 17.4%, or US$28.86, to US$194.95 on the New York Stock Exchange. In contrast, shares of IntercontinentalExchange dropped 2.9%, or US$3.83, to US$128.10.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 26.28 points, or 0.22%, to 12,159.68. The Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 5.11 points, or 0.37%, to at 1,392.28. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index advanced 6.96 points, or 0.29%, to 2,378.70.