Strength in technology and bank shares led Toronto stocks to a higher close on Monday. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 66.56 points, or 0.86%, to close at 7,850.15.

The information technology index led all groups with a 4% gain, while the heavily weighted financial sector rose nearly 1%..

Research In Motion rose $3.38, or 6%, to $59.97, while Celestica was up 95¢, or 5%, at $19.35.

Financial issues strengthened on investor optimism over this week’s bank earnings.

TD rose 49¢, or 1%, to $43.35, while CIBC climbed $1.32, or 2%, at $62.87.

Royal Bank advanced23¢ to $64.82, while Bank of Montreal was up 87¢, or 1.7%, at $52.98. Both banks are scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Tuesday.

Health-care stocks advanced nearly 2% as investors returned to the sector after a 5% decline on Friday that was sparked by news of an investigation into the accounting practices of Biovail.

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals rose $2.71, or 4%, to $64.20, while QLT Inc. moved up 94¢, or 4.5%, to $21.69. Biovail finished the day up 20¢ at $24. 80.

Investors paid little attention to news that domestic retail sales dropped for first time in five months.

Shares of retailers were mostly unchanged and attracted only light volumes during the session.

Market momentum was positive as 683 issues advanced and 567 declined. Toronto volume was 245 million shares.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 1.36 points to 1,610.82.

On Wall Street, stocks closed higher in anticipation of strong economic data later in the week.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 119.26 points, or 1.24%, to 9,747.79. The S&P 500 Index gained 16.8 points, or 1.62%, to 1,052.08. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index (was up 53.26 points, or 2.81%, at 1,947.14.