Toronto stocks closed higher Thursday as bargain-hunting sparked a late-day rally after a big drop earlier in the session.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 94.47 points, or 1.02%, at 9,331.35, after a volatile session that spanned nearly 580 points from trough to peak.

Seven of the 10 main TSX sectors ended higher.

The energy group led the way up, rising 3.5% as oil rose on expectations of an OPEC supply cut. U.S. front-month crude futures rose US$1.09 to settle at US$67.84 a barrel.

Strong earnings from Petro-Canada and EnCana helped to boost their share prices. Petro-Canada rose 9.4% to $27.80, and EnCana was up 8.5% at $55.05.

The resource-laden materials group fell 3.2% as gold and base metals prices dropped on recession fears.

The price of gold slid to US$714.70 an ounce, down $20.50.

Teck Cominco sank 12.4% to $12.54 after the miner said it plans to reduce its exploration budget and is considering asset sales to repay debt.

The financial services group finished the day up 1.9%.

Royal Bank of Canada rose 1.3%, Toronto-Dominion Bank was up 4.5% and Bank of Montreal rose 6.7%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 42.63 points, or 4.73%, to finish at 858.00.

The Canada dollar continued its slide, shedding 0.14¢ to close at US79.64¢.

U.S. stocks clawed back from five-year lows on Thursday, led by a bounce in energy and health-care stocks after oil recovered from a 16-month trough and top pharmaceutical companies posted reassuring earnings.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 8691.25, up 172.04 points, or 2%. It rebounded more than 445 points. The broader S&P 500 closed at 908.12, up 11.34 points, or 1.3%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 11.84 points, or 0.73%, to close at 1,603.91.

After markets closed, the software giant Microsoft reported a rise in its first quarter earnings, to 48¢ a share, slightly beating analysts’ estimates.