Another spike in oil prices kept Toronto stocks in the black Friday morning, while some better-than-expected economic news gave a boost to U.S. markets.

At midday, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index was off its mid-morning high, but still up 27.01 points or 0.29% to 9503.28 on strength of mining and energy stocks. The TSX Venture Exchange edged lower, down 0.51 of a point or 0.03% at 1682.89.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrials gained 29.84 or 0.29% to 10370.22, while the Nasdaq composite was up 3.62 points or 0.18% to 1965.42 and the S&P 500 index was ahead 2.29 or 0.20% at 1174.39.

The Canadian dollar was trading at US80.35¢, up 0.05 of a cent. Earlier in the session, the dollar appeared to slip on critical comments from Bank of Canada governor David Dodge early Friday, who blamed the strong dollar for weighing down manufacturers by raising the price of Canadian exports.

In Toronto, Canadian stocks were led by energy companies such as Talisman Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., as oil prices rose for a third day.

Light sweet crude for June delivery rose $1.07 to $51.90 a barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after climbing for a second straight day in New York to close at $50.83. The benchmark commodity had sagged to a 10-month intra-day low of $48.80 per barrel on Wednesday.

The S&P/TSX energy group advanced 0.88%. Talisman was up 57¢ or 1.46% to $39.55, while Canadian Natural Resources added $1.95 or 2.89% to $69.45.

The mining and metals group was up 1.36%, led by Inco Ltd., which jumped 91¢ or 2.49% to $37.41.

On Wall Street, a surprisingly strong employment report pushed stocks higher, but the gains were tempered by fears that more jobs and higher wages could increase consumer demand and spark inflation.

The economy created 274,000 jobs in April, far more than the 175,000 Wall Street had expected. With job gains for February and March revised upward, investors felt far more confident in the strength of the job market and consumers’ ability to weather any slowdowns in economic growth.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average surged 1.73%. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.21%, Germany’s DAX index rose just 0.01%, and France’s CAC-40 climbed 0.25%.