Toronto, Jan 9 (IANS) Though prices of two main Canadian resources of oil and commodities continue to slip, the Canadian dollar has risen appreciably against the US dollar in the new year.Thanks to the weakening US dollar, the loonie - as the Canadian dollar is called - rose as high as 84.85 cents US, gaining 1.31 cents against the greenback Thursday.

Reversing Wednesday’s dip, Canadian markets resumed their upward trend Thursday, with the Toronto stock exchange (TSX) composite index gaining 100.26 points to close at 9,221.58 on rising energy and financial stocks.

The financial sector was also up one percent, with the country’s top Royal Bank of Canadian gaining 60 cents to close at $37.70 and TD Bank rising 79 cents to close at $46.35.

The Canadian energy sector also gained 1.9 percent, with PetroCanada up $1.18 to $30.50 and Suncor Energy up $1.65 to close at $28.82.

After losses of recent days, the Canadian gold sector was up 4.7 percent Thursday, with Barrick Gold Corp gaining $1.86 to close at $39.20.

Goldcorp Inc., which announced that its output target of 2.3 million ounces for 2009 remained unchanged, gained 59 cents to end the day at $33.59.

With employment figures for December to be announced later Friday, it remains to be seen whether Canadian markets will be able to maintain the momentum.

It has been estimated that 20,000 jobs were lost in Canada last month.

But economists fear the figure could be as high as 50,000.