Bargains hunters gave a boost to Toronto stocks Friday. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 55.32 points, or 0.61%, at 9,064.46, with broad-based gains.

Volume was 116.8 million shares.

All of the 10 major groups were higher, led by 1.05% boost in the materials group and a 0.73% climb in the industrial sector. Technology stocks were up 0.93%.

Among materials issues, Potash Corp. gained $2.32, or 2.56%, to $92.93 and Teck-Cominco climbed $1.20, or 3.53%, to $35.20.

Industrial stocks were helped by news that Canadian National Railway had reached a tentative contract agreement with its union.

CN added $1.42, or 2.1%, to $68.92 on news of the deal with its 2,250 track maintenance workers, effective through 2007.

CP Railway gained 75¢, or 1.93%, to $39.63.

Among individual stocks, shares of Molson Inc. rose almost 5% to $38 after the company offered shareholders an added enticement to back its proposed merger with Adolph Coors Co. by increasing a special dividend.

The company said after the close of trading on Thursday that common shareholders will get a dividend of $5.44 a share if the merger deal is approved. The original special dividend was set at $3.26 a share.

The Canadian dollar dropped more than a cent on foreign exchange markets as the U.S. dollar gained strength.

Shortly before noon, the loonie was trading at US82¢, off 1.19¢ Thursday’s close.

The U.S. greenback picked up after St. Louis Federal Reserve president William Poole apparently said that the Fed could pick up the pace of interest rate hikes south of the border.

On Wall Street, stocks rose following a sharper-than-expected drop in U.S. wholesale inflation in December.

At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 49.36 points, or 0.47%, at 10,555.26. The S&P 500 Index was up 6.88 points, or 0.58%, at 1,184.29. The technology-heavy Nasdaq was up 14.93 points, or 0.72%, at 2,085.41.