For the first time in five sessions, the Toronto Stock Exchange finished with gains on Thursday, carried higher by financial stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index added 55.39 points, or 0.6%, to close at 10,121.50.

The financials group gained 1.9% during Thursday’s session.

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia jumped 2.6% to $40.30 and Bank of Montreal added 2.5% to $45.62.

Royal Bank of Canada shares rose $1.06, or 2.4%, to $45.09.

Also higher was Manulife Financial Corp., up 2.4% to $23.05.

Meanwhile, a boost in oil futures helped the energy group gain 0.6% on Thursday. Crude for July delivery ended up 34 cents, or 0.5%, at US$71.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Talisman Energy Inc. gained 1.8% to $16.34 and EnCana Corp. rose 1.5% to $57.88.

Shares of Petro-Canada advanced 0.7% to $43.65.

Down for the day was Imperial Oil, off 1.1% to $43.90.

Materials stocks finished down 1.2% as gold futures retreated. Gold for August delivery slipped US$1.40, or 0.1%, to US$934.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The sub-gold index fell 2.1%.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. fell 3.1% to $58.09 and Goldcorp Inc. shares slid 1.8% to $37.97.

Iamgold Corp. shares tumbled 5.2% after the company said it expects higher production of about 910,000 to 920,000 ounces of gold this year. The company’s shares fell 56 cents to $10.32.

Teck Resources Ltd. shares jumped 6.5% after it said Wednesday it has signed a deal to sell a one-third interest in its Waneta Dam in southeastern B.C. to BC Hydro for $825 million. The company’s shares gained $1.12 to end at $18.44.

Also higher was Inmet Mining Corp., up $2.00, or 5.2%, to $40.49.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped lower by 1.06 points, or 0.1%, to close at 1,114.31.

The Canadian dollar moved lower by a fifth of a cent to US88.24¢.

Stocks south of the border also advanced on Thursday on data showing that the number of people drawing unemployment benefits fell for the first time since early January. Total unemployment insurance rolls fell last week by 148,000 to 6.76 million.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 58.42 points, or 0.7%, at 8,555.60.

The S&P 500 index gained 7.66 points, or 0.8%, to 918.37.

The Nasdaq composite index was flat at 1,807.72.

After markets closed on Thursday, Research In Motion Ltd. announced that earnings for its first fiscal quarter ended May 30 jumped 33% to $643 million, thanks to strong sales of BlackBerry smartphones.

IE