Stocks held onto impressive gains in midday trading on Thursday, with financials and energy stocks among the biggest winners.
At noon, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 111 points or 0.9 per cent, to 12,683. The broader S&P 500 was up 13 points or 1 per cent, to 1339.
Financials showed the biggest gains, rising 1.8 per cent, while energy stocks rose 1.5 per cent. A couple of defensive sectors also performed well, with utilities up 1.4 per cent and health-care stocks up 1.2 per cent.
Information technology stocks lagged with gains of just 0.2 per cent, with investors disappointed with the financial results from Intel Corp., released on Wednesday evening. Consumer staples rose 0.5 per cent.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 86 points or 0.7 per cent, to 13,427.
Energy stocks rose 1.1 per cent after the price of crude oil jumped more than $1 (U.S.) a barrel, putting it within 53 cents of hitting $100 a barrel. Information technology stocks rose 1.1 per cent and financials rose 0.9 per cent.
Materials were the biggest laggards, falling 0.4 per cent, while consumer discretionary stocks rose 0.3 per cent.
David Berman