Toronto stocks recovered late on Wednesday, finishing with modest gains as investors snapped up bargain-basement shares, while gold and industrial issues remained weak. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 21.09 points, at 6,550.07, recovering from near triple-digit losses early in the afternoon.

Bombardier shares hit another 52-week low, falling 85¢ to $8.15, and leading the TSX in volume with 23 million shares changing hands. The company continues to suffer from recent fallout over airline weakness in the U.S. and problems with Amtrak’s Acela Express trains.

The airline problems also hit Air Canada shares, which fell 65¢ to $5. WestJet shares fell 14¢ to $14.81. After the close, UAL, the parent company of United Airlines said it may file for bankruptcy protection in September.

Gold issues fell 3.29% as the U.S. dollar rallied on stronger U.S. equities.

Barrick Gold fell 88¢ to $24, while Agnico-Eagle pulled back $1.04 to finish at $20.11 a share.

Market volume was a brisk 184.1 million shares traded, valued. Despite the strong finish, market momentum was negative, as 440 issues advanced and 557 declined.

The junior TSX Venture Exchange fell 10.49 points to 1,014.94

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average raced ahead 260.92 points to close at 8,743.31, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index jumped 65.01 points to end the day at 1,334.29. The S&P 500 index surged 35.41 points to 9,19.63.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.05¢ to US63.96¢.