(RTTNews) - Toronto stocks moved higher in the afternoon and challenged a monthly high on Thursday. With the gain, the market recovered its losses from late Wednesday.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index jumped 91.35 points or 0.79% to close at 11,533.37.

Healthcare stocks rallied 1.5% as drug maker Merck & Co. on Thursday reported a surge in third-quarter earnings. Cardiome (COM.TO) rallied 6.5% and Biovail (BVF.TO) gained 2.3%.

Financials also gained nearly 1.5%. Toronto-Dominion (TD.TO) gained 2.25%, CIBC (CM.TO) added 2.1% and Bank on Montreal (BMO.TO) rose 2%.

The Consumer Discretionary Index gained about 1.5% as well. Gildan Activewear (GIL.TO) added 3.7%, Tim Hortons (THI.TO) climbed 2% and Dorel (DII.B.TO) increased 1.5%.

Corus Entertainment (CJR-B.TO) lost 2.1% as the company announced its fourth-quarter net income was C$18.7 million or C$0.23 per share, compared to net income of C$17.4 million or C$0.21 per share last year.

Tech stocks also gained 1.5%. Research in Motion (RIM.TO) finished 3% higher.

Elsewhere on the corporate front, Harvest Energy Trust (HTE-UN.TO) soared 34.1% after the oil and natural gas company announced it has agreed to be acquired by state-run Korea National Oil Corp. in a deal worth about $4.1 billion, including the assumption of debt.

Husky Energy (HSE.TO) dropped 5.1% after the company reported third-quarter net earnings of C$338 million or C$0.40 per share compared with C$1.27 billion or C$1.50 per share in the same quarter last year.

Precision Drilling Trust (PD_U.TO) reported third quarter net income of C$72 million or C$0.25 per unit, compared to C$82 million or C$0.61 per unit last year. However, the stock gained 5.1% on the session.

Potash (POT.TO) rose 0.7% after the company reported third-quarter net earnings of US$248.8 million or US$0.82 per share, compared to US$1.2 billion or US$3.93 per share, in the same quarter last year.

Cangene Corp. (CNJ.TO) soared more than 40% after the company reported full-year net income of C$59.9 million or C$0.86 per share, compared with C$29.6 million or C$0.42 per share a year earlier.

On the economic front, Stats Canada reported Thursday morning that retail sales rose 0.8% in August to $34.5 billion, offsetting a revised 0.5% decline in July. However, excluding rising sales at gas stations and new car dealers, sales were flat.

There’s no major economic news on the calendar for Canada tomorrow. Across the border, U.S. existing home sales data is due at 10 a.m. ET.

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

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