By MALCOLM MORRISON, THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO -- The Toronto stock market closed sharply higher with support coming from oil and gas stocks thanks to higher crude prices and positive earnings reports from the oilpatch.
Mining stocks continued to sell off on growing worries about the global economy and demand for metals and other commodities.
At the end of another volatile session, the S&P/TSX composite index closed ahead 94.59 points to 9,331.47.
"It's the uncertainty with respect to global economic growth: those fears are driving the market down and creating extreme volatility," said Jennifer Dowty, portfolio manager at MFC Global Investment Management.
"There's no clarity, and without clarity and visibility the markets don't know the shape of the global economies six months out. So until we get some sort of clarity on the magnitude of these credit concerns, we're going to continue to see extreme volatility."
The TSX has lost more than one thousand points during the past two days as commodity stocks led a broad decline.
U.S. indexes closed mainly higher as investors wrestled with their fears about the economy but hunted for bargains after two days of selling and the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 172.04 points at 8691.25.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.06 cent to 79.64 centsUS, while the TSX Venture Exchange moved down 42.63 points to 858.
The Nasdaq composite index dropped 11.84 points to 1,603.91, while the S&P 500 index added 11.33 points to 908.11.
The TSX base metals sector was off six per cent as the December copper contract in New York declined 6.1 cents at US$1.8045 a pound, the lowest closing level for a front-month contract since September 2005. The metal has dropped 38 per cent this year
Positive earnings news gave strong support to the TSX. EnCana Corp. was up $4.31 to $55.05 as it reported thirdquarter net earnings of US$3.55 billion, up from $934 million a year ago.
Petro-Canada moved ahead $2.39 to $27.80 as it reported a third-quarter profit of $1.25 billion, up 61 per cent from a year ago.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan reported a profit of $1.24 billion in the July-September period -- more than in all of 2007, its best full year to date. PotashCorp shares were up $3.07 to $85.99 after initially running as high as $90.50.
Crude oil closed up $1.09 at US$67.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping by more than $5 on Wednesday. The TSX energy sector was up 3.5 per cent.
The gold sector was four per cent lower as bullion continued its retreat, down $20.50 at US$714.70 an ounce.
