Major gold miners gained even as bullion neared a three-month low, while BlackBerry (>> BlackBerry Ltd) jumped 6 percent to C$11.91 after saying it would buy a small tech company that enables a single device to use multiple phone numbers.

Financial stocks, which along with resource names provide the bulk of the index's valuation, also pushed higher.

"We're seeing some reversals from earlier this week. The precious metals and materials sectors got a bit oversold," said Youssef Zohny, a portfolio manager at Stenner Investment Partners of Richardson GMP.

The energy sector has been pressured by the slipping price of oil in the last three months. Brent crude hit a two-year low on Thursday due to concerns over rising supply and sluggish demand, while U.S. oil bounced.

"Most commodities sold off on the recent dollar strength," Zohny said. "What we're seeing today is a bit of a bounce. So that's helping the TSX."

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> ended the day up 62.43 points, or 0.40 percent, at 15,534.32. All 10 main sectors on the index closed higher.

Investors also digested data indicating the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week.

The market is taking "a wait-and-see approach," said Kevin Headland, a director in the portfolio advisory group at Manulife Asset Management.

"There's a lot of uncertainty coming to the end of the year as we end QE3 and look towards an increase in interest rates," he said, referring to the U.S. Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program.

He said the TSX may not be able to sustain the pace at which it has been rising this year. The benchmark index is up more than 13 percent since the start of 2014.

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, advanced 0.3 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (>> Royal Bank of Canada) climbed 0.8 percent to C$81.86, and Bank of Nova Scotia (>> The Bank of Nova Scotia) added 0.6 percent to C$72.76.

Shares of energy producers added 0.2 percent, with Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (>> Canadian Natural Resources Limited) gaining 1.5 percent to $45.33.

Goldcorp Inc (>> Goldcorp Inc.) moved 1.6 percent higher to C$28.06 and Barrick Gold Corp (>> Barrick Gold Corp.) rose 1.7 percent to C$18.63, to help the materials sector gain 1.3 percent on the day.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)

By John Tilak and Alastair Sharp