Toronto stocks closed higher as investors began to pick over the bones of beaten down oil and gas and transportation issues.

The TSE 300 finished up 14.62 points at 6,669.45 on strong volume of 182.7 million shares.

The composite index crossed into positive territory in the afternoon, after opening down.

Overall, 11 of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices posted gains. Market momentum, however, was negative as declines outpaced advancers, 554 to 447, with 206 issues unchanged.

The oil and gas sub-index gained 2.14%, thanks to a jump in oil prices on Thursday.

Anderson Exploration gained 27¢ to $39.47, and Alberta Energy rose up $1.25 to $52.35

Transportation stocks advanced 2% as Air Canada jumped 48¢ at C$3.85.

But investors continued to spurn Bombardier Inc. The stock fell $1.08, or 9%, to $10.52, touching a 52-week low. Over 21 million shares changed hands. Another big component of the industrial sub-index, Nortel Networks gained 3¢ to $8.39

Among financial stocks, Sun Life slipped 60¢ to C$29.90, after it said it was reducing its equity offering to $300 million from $500 million.

Trading was active on the CDNX today, with 29 million shares changing hands. Declines beat out advances, 190 to 154 advances, with 573. The CDNX Index closed up 0.88 at 2,770.97

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average overcame its early deficit and ended with healthy gains Thursday. The Nasdaq composite index finished with only a slight loss as selling pressure abated significantly during the afternoon.

The Dow rocketed up 114.03 points, 1.3%, to 8,681.42. The Nasdaq composite index closed down just 3.33 points at 1,460.71. The S&P 500 climbed 11.57 points to 1,018.61.