The Canadian Press

Financials and energy stocks led the way to a solid gain on the Toronto stock market Thursday amid positive U.S. economic data.

Traders sent the S&P/TSX composite index up 95.91 points to 11,754.61 at the end of a shortened session — a mere 25 points away from its high for the year — before heading off for a four-day break.

The TSX resumes trading Tuesday, while Wall Street returns to work Monday.

The Toronto market bounded ahead 291 points or 2.54% this week on rising oil and metal prices and hopes the economic rebound is on track.

Those hopes were raised Thursday after a report from the U.S. Commerce Department showed the manufacturing sector is improving even as orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket durable goods increased less than expected in November.

They rose just 0.2%, however excluding volatile transportation orders, durable goods orders rose 2% compared with October, double the average estimate of economists.

And the U.S. Labour Department said the number of new claims for unemployment benefits fell to 452,000 last week, down 28,000 from the previous week, the latest sign the job market is gradually improving.

It was the best figure since September 2008, before the credit crisis peaked.

“It’s given traders what they wanted going into the end of the year and that is confirmation that the economic recovery is real,” said Andrew Pyle, investment adviser with ScotiaMcLeod in Peterborough, Ont.

“And if anything, (the recovery) is building enough momentum that it’s starting to be reflected even in those lagging indicators like employment, which is obviously what the jobless claims figures are. And if the lagging indicators are also turning positive, then that really is confirmation that we have turned a corner.”

However, Pyle added that there’s still a lot of uncertainty in 2010 as to what happens when massive stimulus spending by governments is taken off the table.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.13 of a cent at US95.25¢.

The TSX Venture Exchange was ahead 18.93 points to 1,469.58.

New York markets also advanced, with the Dow Jones industrials average ahead 53.66 points to 10,520.1, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 16.05 points to 2,285.69. The S&P 500 index gained 5.89 points to 1,126.48.

The energy sector in Toronto rose almost 1% as oil prices continued to climb after running ahead more than US$2 a barrel Wednesday on a report showing lower crude inventories in the United States.

On Thursday, the February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.38 to US$78.05 a barrel. EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) advanced 64¢ to $34.49.

The financial sector rose about 1% with Royal Bank (TSX:RY) ahead 58¢ to $56.15.

The February gold contract on the Nymex rose $10.80 to US$1,104.80 an ounce.

The gold sector was ahead 0.54% as Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) said it’s raising its offer for Canplats Resources Corp. to match a rival bid from Minera Penmont. Goldcorp shares were ahead 59¢ to $42.73 while Canplats shares were up 11¢ to $4.96, after surging more than 50% on Wednesday.

The base metals sector was up 0.26% as March copper added 9¢ to US$3.29 a pound but HudBay Minerals (TSX:HBM) climbed 13¢ to $13.36.

In other corporate news, Priszm Income Fund (TSX:QSR.UN), the fund behind most of Canada’s KFC chicken restaurants, has signed a deal to sell its Toronto plant that supplied its outlets and other customers with salads for $11.5 million. Priszm units rose 7¢ to 96¢.