(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to complete their best year in three decades, led by oil producers and financial companies, after unemployment claims fell to a 17- month low in the U.S.

Cenovus Energy Inc., the oil spinoff from EnCana Corp., added 1.9 percent as oil climbed to a six-week high of $80 a barrel on signs of an accelerating economy. Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second-largest lender, rose 0.9 percent. Suncor Energy Inc., the country’s largest oil and gas company, fell 0.9 percent as U.S. natural-gas inventories fell less than estimated.

“Jobless claims was a little better than expected,” said Blair Falconer, a portfolio manager at HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., which manages about C$16 billion ($15.3 billion). “That gave us a little pop.”

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index added 28.65 points, or 0.2 percent, to 11,746.11. The benchmark index for Canadian stocks jumped 31 percent this year and posted its biggest annual advance since 1979. The gauge beat the S&P 500 for the sixth straight year, boosted by commodity-linked companies that make up 46 percent of Canadian stocks by market value. Metals and oil have surged in 2009 on signs of recovering economic growth.

“It’s been a really quiet week but a really great year,” Falconer said.

For the decade, the S&P/TSX increased 40 percent while the S&P 500 lost 24 percent, excluding dividends.

Western Canada

The U.S. Labor Department reported new unemployment claims fell 22,000 to 432,000 last month, reaching the lowest level since July 2008. Most economists in a Bloomberg survey forecast jobless claims would increase.

Crude oil gained for a seventh day, rising as high as $80 a barrel in New York, a six week high.

Cenovus, which produces oil in Western Canada, rallied 1.9 percent to C$26.50. Canadian Oil Sands Trust, part owner of the country’s Syncrude project, climbed 1.4 percent to C$29.91.

Energy companies with a greater interest in natural-gas projects fell after a U.S. government report showed that inventories fell less than analysts estimated last week.

Suncor, which bought Petro-Canada in August, declined 0.9 percent to C$37.21. Provident Energy Trust, which produces oil and gas in Western Canada, slipped 1.7 percent to C$7.08.

Most lenders rose on the U.S. economic news. TD Bank, which has 1,045 branches in the U.S., gained 0.9 percent to C$65.96 to contribute the most to the S&P/TSX’s gain. Royal Bank of Canada, Canada’s largest bank, added 0.5 percent to C$56.40.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals producer, declined for a fifth session, falling 2.5 percent to C$36.82. Copper futures dropped more than 1 percent from their intraday high in afternoon trading in New York.