Canadian stocks bounced back into positive territory on Thursday, led by strength in the materials group as gold futures rallied.

The S&P/TSX composite index moved higher by 100.26 points, or 1.1%, to close at 9,221.58.

The materials group led the way with gains of 2.7%.

Gold for February delivery ended up US$12.80, or 1.5%, at US$854.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The sub-gold index jumped 4.7%.

Shares of Kinross Gold Corp. soared 6.4% to $21.57 and Barrick Gold Corp. shares were up 5% to $39.20.

Goldcorp Inc. rose 1.8% to end at $33.59 after the company announced that fourth-quarter output rose to a record 692,000 ounces.

Also higher was Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., up 6.1% to $59.53.

Shares of Teck Cominco Ltd. dipped lower after the company announced it would cut 1,400 jobs globally, or 13% of its workforce. The layoffs are an effort to cut costs as demand for coal weakens and commodity prices deteriorate. Teck’s B-class shares fell 2.4% to finish at $7.42.

The energy group advanced nearly 2% despite more deterioration in oil futures. Crude for February delivery ended down 93 cents, or 2.2%, at US$41.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Petro-Canada shares jumped 4% to $30.50 and shares of Suncor Energy Inc. soared $1.65, or 6.1%, to end at $28.82.

Shares of Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. got a boost of 7.1% to $24.00 and Talisman Energy Inc. was up 2.2% to $12.85.

Financial companies, which included a mixed bag of gains and losses, rose 1% overall on Thursday.

Shares of Manulife Financial Corp. rallied 2.8% after the company denied reports that U.S. regulators were investigating accounting practices regarding investments made by the company’s U.S. division.

National Bank of Canada shares gained 3.9% to close at $34.44 and Toronto-Dominion Bank moved up by 1.7% to $46.35.

Others retreated, including Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., down 1.8% to $368.70.

Several retailer stocks declined following negative news from major retailers south of the border. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Macy’s Inc. and Gap Inc. all slashed earnings forecasts after a disappointing holiday-shopping season.

Shoppers Drug Mart’s stock fell 0.9% to $44.60.

Shares of drugstore chain Jean Coutu Group Inc. dipped after the company reported a loss of $399.2 million in its fiscal third quarter of 2009. Jean Coutu shares fell 2.3% to $7.52.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite advanced 11.15 points, or 1.26%, to end at 899.47.

The Canadian dollar gained US1.31¢ against the greenback, to close at US84.85¢.

Both Canada and the United States will release December employment numbers on Friday.

Major American indexes saw mixed results amid the disappointing news from the retail sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 27.24 points, or 0.3%, to 8,742.46.

The S&P 500 index posted gains of 3.08 points, or 0.3%, to 909.73, and the Nasdaq composite index rose by 17.95 points to end at 1,617.01.

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. tumbled US$4.16, or 7.5%, on the New York Stock Exchange, after it reported December same-store sales that fell short of analyst expectations. Wal-Mart shares closed at US$51.38.