The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that U.S. and Canadian stocks closed higher on Thursday, extending their rally with a solid boost from technology shares as investors parsed a mixed bag of corporate earnings and watched for signs of progress in the U.S.-China tariff standoff. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that the Toronto Stock Exchange came within a whisker of erasing its decline since the start of the year. All three major U.S. stock indexes posted sharp gains, with the Magnificent Seven group of artificial-intelligence-related megacaps, boosted by AI-powered software firm ServiceNow's better-than-expected quarterly results, giving Nasdaq the edge. Beijing called for cancellation of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, after comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signalling the White House could be willing to de-escalate trade tensions that have whipsawed markets for weeks. ServiceNow's profit was better than analysts expected owing to resilient demand for AI-powered software. Its shares jumped 15.5 per cent. Hasbro also beat expectations. Shares for Procter & Gamble slid by 3.7 per cent and PepsiCo tumbled 4.9 per cent. The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed at 24,727.53 up 254.85.