Toronto stocks closed slightly higher Thursday, as investors absorbed mixed earnings news and higher oil prices The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 15.56, or 0.15%, to 10,516.23.

Volume on the senior exchange was 235 million shares.

Crude futures rose 84¢ to settle at US$59.95 a barrel after the U.S. Department of Energy painted a mixed picture of petroleum supplies, but suggested demand will remain strong.

EnCana Corp. fell 30¢, or 0.57%, to $52.10 after the Calgary-based oil and gas company reported its second-quarter earnings ballooned to US$839 million, compared with earnings of US$250 million a year earlier.

Enbridge reported a drop in second-quarter profits Thursday to $95.3 million and also announced it had received support from producers to proceed with an US$895 million expansion of its oil pipeline from Alberta to Illinois. Its shares dropped 34¢, or 0.96%, to close $35.25.

The TSX energy sector, which gained 0.6% on the day, was of six groups that ended in positive territory.

Industrials enjoyed a 1.37% gain. Flight simulator company CAE Inc. rose 48¢, or 7.33%, to $7.03.

Materials were up 0.63%, but the gold sector finished down 0.78%

Placer Dome Inc. reported it lost US$7 million in the second quarter compared with a US$33 million profit last year. The gold and copper producer’s shares dropped 58¢, or 3.24%, to $17.30.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported said monthly prices for manufactured goods were unchanged in June after a slight decrease in May. The industrial product price index for June was 111.4, unchanged from May; the raw materials price index gained 5.4% in June, after dropping 3.2% in May.

The Canadian dollar closed up at 0.38 of a cent to close US81.25¢. The dollar had lost more than a cent in value during the previous two sessions.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 9.32, or 0.53%, to 1,783.75.

In New York, the higher price of crude couldn’t dampen the positive effect of strong corporate earnings news. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hit four-year highs.

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 68.46, or 0.64%, to 10,705.55.

The tech heavy Nasdaq lifted 12.22, or 0.56%, to 2,198.44, and the broad based S&P 500 index gained 6.93, or 0.56%, to 1,243.72.

DaimlerChrysler shares surged 9.8 %, or $4.29, to US$48.26 after the company posted slightly improved second-quarter and announced that CEO Juergen Schrempp would be stepping down by year’s end.

Bristol-Myers Squibb rose rose 7¢ to US$25.17 as the company posted a 91% increase in second-quarter income.