Gold and information stocks propelled markets in Canada, while some good economic news provided a boost to U.S. markets on the first day of the second quarter.

On Bay Street, the S&P/TSX composite jumped 66.15 points or 0.77% to 8652, while the TSX Venture exchange was up 11.2 points or 0.6% to 1884.78.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 1.1 to 1 on the TSX. Volume was 300.7 million. All sectors were up, lead by health care with 2.77% gain and information technology (2.13%). Gold stocks as a group were up 0.67% and financials gained 0.53%.

The tech sector got a boost from telecom equipment giant L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co., which said profit margins expanded in the first quarter. Gold miners Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. and Iamgold Corp., which announced merger plans Wednesday continued to be among most active traders on the TSX.

In financial sector news, Sceptre Investment Counsel Ltd. said it posted 6.5% jump in net earnings, while revenues fell 3.55 in the first quarter ended Feb. 29.

The Canadian dollar finished at US76.51¢, up 0.21 points.

On Wall Street, U.S. investors were not quite as bullish as they waited for Friday’s key monthly U.S. employment report. Still, there was enough good economic news to push the Dow up 15.63 points or 0.15% to 10373.33. The S&P 500 composite gained almost six points or 0.53% to 1132.17, while the Nasdaq jumped 20.79 points or 1.04% to 2015.01

The U.S. Labor Department said fewer people filed new applications to collect unemployment benefits last week, sending jobless claims to their lowest level in two weeks. Economists had expected a rise.

While the pace of layoffs seems to be slowing, companies haven’t been in a rush to hire new workers. Many analysts are hoping for a strong report Friday on the number of jobs created in March. Most want to see the economy add 200,000 to 300,000 new jobs for several months before they’ll declare a recovery, but they’ve been deeply disappointed so far this year.

“The jobs report is going to be very big,” said one New York analysts.

Helping stocks was a report from the Institute for Supply Management, which showed substantial growth in the nation’s manufacturing sector in March. Economists had expected a decrease.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average finished 0.3% lower Thursday. In Europe, France’s CAC-40 added 1.2%, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% and Germany’s DAX index closed up 1.8%.