TORONTO - The Toronto stock market opened higher after being closed for two days for Christmas and Boxing Day.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 60.67 points to 13,578.69, while the Canadian dollar dipped 0.41 of a cent to 93.76 cents US.
The TSX's gain came as the market digested news that BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis has cashed in $26 million worth of shares in the smartphone company. The transaction now brings Lazaridis' stake in the struggling Waterloo, Ont., company to five per cent. BlackBerry shares fell 5.7 per cent, or 47 cents, to $7.78.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrials were ahead 41.49 points to 16,521.37, the Nasdaq gained 5.57 points to 4,172.75 and the S&P 500 index gained 2.2 points to 1,844.22.
Investors were encouraged by figures that showed a sharp drop in unemployment benefits last week, another sign that the economy is faring better than expected.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 42,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 338,000, the biggest drop since November 2012.