(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks have surged higher on Thursday morning, erasing some of their recent slump. The energy sector is experiencing notable strength as crude oil rises in NYMEX trading.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index has rallied 106.26 points or 1.28% to move 8,230.58. Toronto’s main index had lost more than 500 points over the previous two sessions.

Energy stocks are up 3.1%, recovering some recent losses. The gain comes as light sweet crude oil has gained $1.74 to $36.36 per barrel.

Among the big names, Suncor (SU.TO) has surged 6.6%, Canadian Oil Sands (COS.UN.TO) has added 5.35% and Savanna (SVY.TO) is up 3.8%.

Mining stocks are up 1.9%, recouping some of yesterday’s sharp decline. Teck Cominco (TCK.B.TO) has rallied 2.7% and First Quantum (FM.TO) is up 2%.

Silver mining company Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW.TO) has dropped 5.7% after the company reported a net loss for the fourth quarter compared to a profit in the year-ago period, hurt by write-down of long-term investments and a 43% drop in sales. For fiscal year 2009, the company forecasts higher silver sales compared to the preceding year.

In other corporate news, Kinross Gold Corp. (K.TO) is down 4.9% after reporting quarterly earnings that fell short of analysts’ expectations. The company’s adjusted fourth quarter earnings were $56.8 million or $0.09 per share, compared to $40.9 million or $0.07 per share a year ago. Analysts expected the company to earn $0.12 per share.

Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) has dropped 1.5% after the company reported net income for the fourth quarter of US$21.9 million or US$0.15 per share, down from US$65.2 million or US$0.46 per share in the prior year period.

Thursday, QLT Inc. (QLT.TO) reported fourth-quarter net income of US$5.9 million or US$0.08 per share, compared to a loss of US$46.5 million or US$0.62 per share in the same quarter last year.

Rona (RON.TO) has jumped 3.1% after the company announced adjusted net earnings for the current quarter were C$26.3 million or C$0.23 per share.

TransAlta Corp. (TA.TO) is up 1.75% after Credit Suisse backed its Outperform rating for the stock.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada data showed the rate of decline of Canada’s composite index accelerated from 0.5% in December to 0.8% in January. This was the largest and most widespread decrease since the index turned down in September. Among the 10 components, 6 fell, 1 was unchanged and 3 increased.

South of the border, the Labor Department revealed that initial jobless claims came in at 627,000 for the week ended February 14. This was unchanged from the previous week’s revised total.

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Posted in Categories: Canada, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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