Toronto stocks ended higher Tuesday, powered for a change by the financials group, rather than the energy sector, which has largely fuelled the market this year.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 61.70, or 0.56%, to 11,067.17

Volume on the senior exchange was 310 million shares.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups finished in positive territory.

The biggest advancer was the financials index, which gained 1.79%.

The Bank of Nova Scotia rose $1.16, or 2.72%, to $43.88, while the Toronto-Dominion Bank gained $1.51, or 2.64%, to $58.73.

Oil prices continued to be volatile. Light sweet crude for November delivery fell US75¢ to settle at US$65.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose US$1.63 in yesterday’s session.

The TSX energy sector fell a slim 0.05%. Sector stalwart EnCana Corp. gained 3¢, or 0.05%, to $65.50, while Nexen Inc. fell 31¢, or 0.54%, to $56.73.

Gold for December delivery fell to US$466.20, down US$3.30, on the Nymex. Bullion hit an intra-day low of US$461.20 an ounce.

In Toronto, the gold sector dropped 1.80%. Barrick Gold shed 46¢, or 1.59%, to $28.40.

Viking Energy Royalty Trust gained $1.07, or 12.59%, to $9.57 after it announced a 50% jumps in distribution, to 12¢ a unit.

Intel Corp. and Research In Motion announced they will work together on new technology for the next generation of BlackBerrys. RIM lost 14¢, or 0.15%, to $90.91.

The Canadian dollar finished down 0.37 of a cent to US84.93¢.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange closed up 8.40 points, or 0.41%, to 2,078.33.

In New York, markets ended mixed as sobering economic figures were offset by encouraging words from U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan who said the U.S. economy was strong enough to absorb the financial shocks delivered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.58 to 10,456.21,
the S&P500 index rose 0.03 to 1,215.66, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.04 to 2,116.42

The U.S. Conference Board reported a consumer confidence reading of 86.6, a 17% plunge from the previous reading of 105.6.

The U.S. Commerce Department said new home sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.24 million units, a drop of nearly 10%.