Technology stocks provided the spark for Toronto markets on Monday, while a new round of merger news helped U.S. investors take their minds off inflation fears and rising cruder oil prices.

At close the Toronto S&P/TSX composite index was up 38.46 points or 0.4% at 9561.20, while the TSX Venture Exchange edged up 2.02 points or 0.12% at 1697.47.

On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow industrials advanced 38.94 points or 0.38% at 10384.34. The Nasdaq composite added 12.32 points or 0.63% at 1979.67, while the S&P 500 index climbed 7.49 points or 0.64% to 1178.84.

Canadian dollar was up 0.21 of a cent to US80.74¢ after Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. announced the housing sector remained strong last month, thanks to low unemployment and mortgage rates. CMHC said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was just over 230,000 units. That’s up 5.5 per cent from March.

In Toronto, tech shares surged 2.80% on upbeat news about Nortel Networks Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd.

Nortel stock jumped 24¢ or 8.03% to $3.23 after it announced it has hired former Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and General Electric Co. executive Paul Karr to be its full-time controller, the telecom equipment maker said on Thursday.

Research In Motion added $1.97 or 2.90% to US$69.61 after noting it now has more than three million subscribers to its BlackBerry wireless e-mail device, a third of those added in less than six months.

Together Nortel and RIM traded more than 27 million shares, about 15% of Monday’s total volume on the TSX.

Elsewhere on the TSX, energy shares were up 0.59% as the price of oil continued to climb. Oil prices surged past US$52 per barrel as concerns about summer gasoline demand continued to plague the market. A barrel of light crude was quoted at US$52.05, up US$1.09, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold shares added 0.05%. Metals and mining shares were up 1.02% and financial advanced 0.14%.

Among financial stocks, Power Financial Corp. shares lost 94¢ or 2.81% to $32.50. The company, which has major assets in insurance and mutual funds companies including Great-West Lifeco Inc. and IGM Financial, reported that first-quarter earnings rose to $379 million vs $335 million a year ago.

On Wall Street, merger news dominated the headlines. Online discount broker E-Trade Financial is reportedly going after rival AmeriTrade Holding in a deal that would be worth US$5.5 billion. AmeriTrade has reportedly been in talks with TD Waterhouse Group, which is owned by the TD Bank. E-Trade shares were 72¢ higher to US$12.65, AmeriTrade stock was up US$2.11 to US$13.42 and TD Bank moved up 49¢ to $51.14.

Duke Energy Corp. said Monday it has agreed to acquire Cinergy Corp. for stock valued at about $9 billion US in a deal that will create an energy company with about 5.4 million retail customers and more than $70 billion in assets. Duke Energy shares fell 55¢ to US$28.81 while Cinergy stock jumped US$1.89 to US$42.27.

America West Holdings Corp. is closer to a deal to buy bankrupt airline US Airways Group Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported. The carriers are hoping to have an agreement in place before America West’s annual shareholder meeting May 17, the Journal said. America West was down 12¢ to US$4.30.