The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market snapped a four-session-long losing streak to surge more than 250 points Thursday, as the U.S. economy finally started growing again during the third quarter.

The S&P/TSX composite index ran up 269.89 points to 11,075.22 after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that U.S. gross domestic product rose at a 3.5% annualized pace, slightly better than the 3.3% growth that economists had expected. It was the first time the U.S. economy has grown since early 2008.

Growth was fuelled by government-supported spending on cars and homes, raising some questions in the market about the sustainability of the GDP increase.

“I don’t know that it was convincing enough to make everyone feel good again,” said Ted Whitehead, vice-president and senior portfolio manager at MFC Global Investment Management.

“We can’t keep stimulating the economy (and) with the consumer still strapped, people are kind of questioning what’s next.”

The four losing sessions cut 6% from the TSX after a disappointing report on sales of new U.S. homes and consumer confidence raised worries about the pace of a recovery.

The Canadian dollar was up 1¢ to US93.72¢.

Commodity prices turned higher in the wake of the GDP announcement, which raised hopes that an expanding U.S. economy will translate into increased demand. The December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose US$2.41 to US$79.87 a barrel, and the energy sector gained 2.61%. EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) advanced $2.09 to $61.83 on the TSX and Suncor Inc. (TSX:SU) was up $1.15 to $36.97.

The base metals sector gained 6.99% as December copper on the Nymex was up 9.9¢ at US$3.03 a pound. HudBay Minerals (TSX:HBM) jumped $1.76 to $14.60.

Teck Resources Limited (TSX:TCK.B) shares rose $1.79 to $32.51 after it said Wednesday it earned $609 million for the quarter, compared with a profit of $424 million a year ago. The company also said it is paying off its once massive debt load quicker than planned and expects that trend to continue if commodity prices keep climbing.

The December bullion contract on the Nymex was ahead US$16.60 to US$1,047.10 an ounce, taking the gold sector up 4.17%. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) advanced $1.51 to $40.26.

Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) posted a quarterly loss of US$5.4 billion or US$6.07 a share, including a non-cash accounting charge of US$5.7 billion due to the windup of its gold hedging program. Adjusting for the accounting charge, Barrick had a profit of US$473 million and its shares were ahead $2.62 to $39.66 in Toronto.

But Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX:AEM) shares fell $4.91 or 7.43% to $61.19 after reporting a quarterly loss of US$17 million, compared with a profit of US$14 million a year ago, with results weighed down by a non-cash foreign exchange charge. The selloff came as two brokerages downgraded the Toronto company’s prospects

Lift was also provided by TSX financial sector, up 2.37% as Royal Bank (TSX:RY) gained $2.09 to $55.43 and Manulife Financial (TSX:MFC) was ahead 77¢ to $20.75.

All TSX sectors were higher save for a 1.19% drop in the utilities group.

The TSX Venture Exchange improved 47.01 points to 1,310.42.

New York indexes also charged ahead with the Dow Jones industrial average up 199.89 points to 9,962.58.

The Nasdaq composite index climbed 37.94 points to 2,097.55 while the S&P 500 index was up 23.48 points to 1,066.11.

In a sign of continuing economic weakness, the U.S. Labour Department said that the number of people claiming jobless benefits for the first time dropped less than expected last week, falling by 1,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 530,000. Analysts expected a steeper drop to 521,000.

In Canadian economic news, Statistics Canada said the Industrial Product Price Index dropped 0.5% in September, while the raw materials price index fell 1.1, mainly due to declining petroleum prices.

In other earnings news, beverage maker Cott Corp. (TSX:BCB) is reporting a quarterly profit of US$13.9 million or 18¢, reversing a year-earlier $87.6-million loss. The world’s third-largest soft drink provider said quarterly revenue dipped to $404.9 million from $420.5 million a year ago but met analyst expectations and its shares gained 39¢ to $8.91.

Canadian Oil Sands Trust (TSX:COS.UN) bumped up its quarterly distribution by 40% Wednesday even as it reported a sharp drop in quarterly earnings. The trust declared a quarterly distribution of 35¢ per unit, payable on Nov. 30, up from the current payout of 25¢ per unit. Its units dipped 72¢ to $29.45.

@page_break@Elsewhere, Hydro-Quebec announced it will acquire the majority of NB Power’s assets under a proposed agreement announced today worth nearly $5 billion. The move would give Quebec greater capacity to export power to the United States and shares in other power companies were lower following the announcement.

Shares in Emera Inc. (TSX:EMA ) which has two wholly-owned regulated electric utility subsidiaries, Nova Scotia Power Inc. and Bangor Hydro-Electric Company, were down 64¢ to $21.97.

And Fortis Inc. (TSX:FTS), which serves more than two million gas and electricity customers in five provinces, moved 34¢ lower to $25.30.

Junior oil and gas company Exceed Energy Inc. (TSXV:EX.A) says it has entered into preliminary discussions with a third party on a potential business combination with that company. The announcement came after the stock surged more than 100%. It closed up seven¢ on the Venture Exchange to 14¢.