The Toronto Stock Exchange finished with a fourth consecutive day of strong gains on Thursday, pulled higher by materials stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 88.96 points, or 0.9%, to close at 10,304.42.

The materials group advanced 1.4% on Thursday.

Shares of Agrium Inc. surged $2.30, or 5.4%, to $45.14, and Potash Corp. jumped $4.35, or 4.4%, to $102.33.

Shares of Athabasca Potash Inc. surged 35.1% after the company said it would explore a potential sale of all or part of the company. Athabasca shares rose $1.43 to $5.51.

Shares of Teck Resources Ltd. soared 9.2%, one day after the company said it closed the previously announced private placement of 17.5% of its class B subordinate voting shares to an affiliate of China Investment Corporation for US$1.5 billion. Teck shares gained $1.89 to $22.40.

Also higher was Inmet Mining Ltd., up $1.29, or 3.1%, to $42.56.

Other mining companies retreated Thursday, as gold futures ended their three-day winning streak and slipped slightly lower. August gold futures fell US$4.00, or 0.4%, to end at US$935.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The sub-gold index on the TSX finished the day flat.

Shares of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. plunged 13.3% after the company said it anticipates further negotiations with the Mongolian government on a long-term agreement for a copper-gold mining project in that country. The company’s shares fell $1.33 to $8.70.

Oil futures reversed earlier losses to close with gains on Thursday. August crude futures rose 51 cents, or 0.8%, to end at US$62.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The energy group gained 0.9% during the session.

Shares of EnCana Corp. rose 2.5% to $55.81 and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. gained 3% to $61.56.

Others finished lower, including Husky Energy Inc., down 1.6% to $30.95, and Canadian Oil Sands Trust, down 2.7% to $25.99.

Nexen Inc. saw its stock plunge 6.6% after it said second quarter net income was $20 million, down sharply from $380 million in the same quarter last year. Nexen shares fell $1.53 to $21.62.

Financial stocks edged up 0.1% on Thursday.

Manulife Financial Corp. gained 1.4% to $21.86 and Sun Life Financial Inc. advanced 1.4% to $31.68.

Intact Financial Corp. added 1.6% to $34.74.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index advanced by 15.25 points, or 1.4%, to close at 1,097.80.

After three days of gains, the Canadian dollar retreated on Thursday to close at US89.51¢, down US0.23¢.

In New York, U.S. stock market indexes also finished higher after a second U.S. banking giant, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., reported strong second-quarter profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 95.61 points, or 1.1%, to 8,711.82.

The S&P 500 index added 8.06 points, or 0.9%, to close at 940.74.

The Nasdaq composite index surged 22.13 points, or 1.2%, to finish at 1,885.03.

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