TSX rises nearly 80 points as New York indices fall

TORONTO -- Canada's main stock index advanced nearly 80 points today, offsetting much of Thursday's triple-digit loss, on the back of strong earnings from a number of companies.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index gained 79.66 points to 15,586.13.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 40.82 points to 20,940.51, the S&P 500 index shed 4.57 points to 2,384.20, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 1.33 points to 6,047.61.

The Canadian dollar declined 0.14 of a U.S. cent to 73.26 cents US.

The June crude contract rose 36 cents to US$49.33 per barrel, while the June gold contract gained $2.40 to US$1,268.30 an ounce.

Elsewhere in commodities, June natural gas gained 3.7 cents to about US$3.28 per mmBTU and July copper advanced about 1.5 cents to roughly US$2.61 a pound.