Toronto stocks were in positive territory Thursday, extending a three-day rally. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 32.32 points, or 0.35%, at 9,138.48. Volume was 163 million shares.

Tech shares recovered some of their losses after Wednesday’s sell-off on disappointing news on Nortel Networks and Research In Motion. The group was up 1.51%.

Nortel rose 11¢, or 2.56%, to $4.41, while RIM gained $3.25, or 3.22%, to $104.25.

Before markets opened, U.S.-based Glamis Gold Ltd. said it plans to make a takeover bid for Canadian miner Goldcorp Inc . Glamis Gold dropped $1.70, or 7.23%, to $21.80, while Goldcorp jumped $1.85, or 10.82%, to $18.95.

The overall gold mining subgroup slipped 0.01%.

Health care gained 0.83%, led by Labopharm Inc., which climbed 18¢, or 5.42%, to $3.50. The company said on Thursday it had finalized an agreement with U.S. regulators for a pivotal trial of its once-a-day version of painkiller Tramadol.

Energy stocks slipped 0.29% after a strong three-day rally as crude oil prices eased from two-week highs.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was up 0.50 of point at 1,723.59.

U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. posted disappointing quarterly revenues and investors mulled government data that presented a mixed picture of the economy.

Goldman shares slipped 2.8% to US$106.23, weighing on the Standard & Poor’s index.

Economic data showed the U.S. current account deficit widened slightly in the third quarter. Also, the number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment pay fell by much more than expected last week, while housing starts unexpectedly plummeted last month.

At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 28.68 points, or 0.27%, at 10,720.13. The S&P 500 was up 1.08 points at 1,206.80. The tecc-heavy Nasdaq composite index slipped 1.10 points to 2,161.45.