Toronto stocks climbed higher on Thursday as commodity-related shares rose following a rally in Chinese stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 13.68 points or 0.1%, at 10,700.51.

Overseas, Shanghai’s main index surged 4.5% to 2,911.58, a day after slumping nearly 5%.

TSX energy stocks were generally lower, even though Crude for September delivery rose 12¢ to end at $72.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Suncor Energy Inc. fell 1.2% and EnCana Corp. fell 0.5%.

Financials stocks climbed, with Bank of Nova Scotia up 1.2%.

Among individual stocks, Research In Motion Ltd., jumped 2.1% higher.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index climbed 7.44 points, or 0.63%, to 1,184.39.

The Canadian dollar rose half a cent to finish at US91.97¢.

In New York, U.S. stocks moved higher despite a disappointing report on U.S. initial jobless claims.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 70.89 points, or 0.8%, at 9,350.05,

The broader S&P 500 climbed back above the 1,000 mark, rising 10.91 points, or 1.1% to 1,007.37.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 19.98 points, or 1.01% to 1,989.22.

IE