The Toronto stock market moved higher Thursday, led by rising resource stocks as prices for oil and metals advanced amid positive news on the American employment front. The S&P/TSX composite index gained 35.17 points to 13,187.17 while the TSX Venture Exchange moved up 11 points to 2,109.84. A major, early advancer was yoga retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. (TSX: LLL). Its stock ran ahead 14 per cent to $64.04 after it reported that profits surged in the third-quarter on higher sales, surpassing analyst expectations. The Vancouver-based company’s net profit rose to US$25.9 million or 36 cents a share, compared with earnings of $14.1 million or 20 cents a share for the same year-earlier period. The consensus estimate compiled by Thomson Reuters was for 25 cents net earnings per diluted share. Third-quarter revenue increased 56 per cent to $175.8 million. The U.S. Labor Department said that applications for unemployment benefits dropped last week to the second-lowest level this year, providing evidence that companies are cutting fewer jobs. First-time claims for jobless aid fell by 17,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 421,000 last week. Analysts had expected a smaller decline. The Canadian dollar turned higher even as the greenback made gains against other currencies, up 0.32 of a cent to 99.25 cents US. Oil prices climbed after pulling back on Wednesday amid speculation that China may raise interest rates to keep inflation down and news that a decline in U.S. crude inventories was tempered by increases in gasoline and distillates supplies. The January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 39 cents to US$88.67 a barrel, lifting the energy sector by 0.6 per cent. Canadian Natural Resources (TSX: CNQ) rose 47 cents to $42.54. Shares in Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX: CVE) moved down 47 cents to $31.07 as it said it will invest about $2 billion into its oil sands projects in 2011, with average oil production targeted to rise two per cent. The base metal sector was ahead 1.4 per cent with the March copper contract on the Nymex ahead a penny to US$4.12 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX: TCK.B) rose 70 cents to $56.25. The gold sector also ran ahead as gold prices advanced after two days of declines, with the February contract ahead $7 to US$1,390.20 an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX: G) gained 39 cents to $46.35. All sectors save information technology were positive as CIBC (TSX: CM) rose 53 cents to $77.98, Rogers Communications (TSX: RCI.B) up 19 cents to $35.63 and Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX: CP) ahead 54 cents to $65.04. Speculation that Chinese moves to control inflation could slow the economy pushed the TSX down almost 100 points on Wednesday. New York markets have fared better with positive sentiment lingering from a deal to extend Bush-era tax cuts in the U.S. Economists expect the tax package to lead to stronger growth in the U.S. economy. They’re already raising their estimates for economic growth as a result. Goldman Sachs estimates the tax proposal could add between 0.5 and 1 percentage point to economic growth in 2011. New York’s Dow Jones industrials climbed 11.73 points to 11,384.21. The Nasdaq composite index gained 8.79 points to 2,617.95 while the S&P 500 index climbed 4.14 points to 1,232.42. In other corporate news, retailer Dollarama (TSX: DOL) said after the markets closed Wednesday that one of its major shareholders has agreed to sell about half of its holdings in the company for $324.8 million. The Montreal-based retailer, which will not receive any money from the secondary sale of its shares by Bain Capital, said that a syndicate of underwriters would pay $29 per share. Earlier in the day, the company had issued a quarterly earnings report that beat expectations. On Thursday, its shares were down 27 cents to $28.81. Market sentiment was boosted earlier in Asia, where Japan’s economic growth rate was revised up to an annualized 4.5 per cent in the third quarter and Australian unemployment figures fell. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average closed 0.5 per cent higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.3 per cent, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.9 per cent to 4,741.30 amid data showing the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 per cent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index bucked the trend, losing 1.3 per cent amid continued jitters that interest rates will be raised by the central bank. London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.51 per cent, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.21 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.77 per cent.

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