Despite deadly terrorist attacks in London, North American markets actually managed to advance marginally Thursday, avoiding the drops seen on European exchanges.

As G8 leaders met in Gleneagles, Scotland, the British capital was rocked this morning by four rush-hour explosions on the city’s transportation system. Reports were that at least 37 people had died and 700 were injured in the attacks.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index finished up 9.11 points, or 0.09%, to close at 10,121.00. Volume was 181 million shares.

Six of the 10 TSX main groups finished down, with consumer discretionary dropping by 0.45%.

Airline stocks were weaker. ACE Aviation Holdings, Air Canada’s parent company, lost 45¢ to end at $38.80, while WestJet erased earlier losses to finish unchanged at $13.50.

Hotel shares also came under pressure. Four Seasons was down $1.34 at $81.90, while Fairmont was off $1.11 at $42.85.

On the positive side, the energy sector rose 0.36% and the heavily weighted financial group was up was the financial group gained 0.23%

Light sweet crude for August delivery dropped 55¢ to settle at US$60.73 US a barrel. The price swung wildly following the attacks, surging as high as US$62.10 and as low as US$57.20.

Petro-Canada was up 60¢ at $83.70, while Nexen dipped 27¢ to $42.52 and Talisman gained 38¢ to $50.71.

In banking news, BMO Financial Group, and its U.S.-based subsidiary, Harris Bankcorp, Inc., announced an agreement to purchase Chicago-area bank Edville Bankcorp, Inc. and its subsidiary, Villa Park Trust and Savings. Bank of Montreal shares closed up 30¢, or 0.53%, to close $57.40.

Gold for August delivery closed down 30¢ to $422.90 US an ounce, after earlier striking an intra-day high of $424.20 US an ounce.

Unit-holders of the O&Y Real Estate Investment Trust rejected a takeover offer by Brookfield Properties Corp. and the Canada Pension Plan. Trading in the O&Y companies were halted, while Brookfield stock gained 9¢, or 0.31%, to close $29.17.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange finished up 0.66, or 0.04%, to close 1,726.20.

The Canadian dollar closed up 0.55 cent to US81.38¢.

In New York, markets stabilized quickly after experiencing a sudden fall this morning with the news of the London explosions.

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average finished up 31.61, or 0.31%, to 10,302.29. The tech heavy Nasdaq composite index advanced 7.01, or 0.34%, to 2,075.66. The broad-based S&P 500 index closed up 2.93, or 0.25%, to 1,197.87.

European markets rebounded after sharp falls in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

London’s key FTSE 100 index closed down 71.3, or 1.4%, at 5,158.3, after a fall of nearly 200 points during the day.

Germany’s DAX index ended down 1.9% at 4,530.18 and in Paris, the CAC 40 benchmark lost 1.4% to close at 4,220.62.