North American markets surged late in the day, but gold and financial shares held back Bay Street, while Wall Street went on a tear, jumping more than 100 points in the final hour.

At close, Toronto’s S&P/TSX was down 21.26 points or 0.25% at 8388.86, while the TSX Venture Exchange fell 4.29 points or 0.28% to 1529.05.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 121.82 points or 1.20% higher at 10,290.28, while the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 23.02 points, or 01.24% to 1873.43 and the S&P 500 climbed 12.4 points, or 1.12% to 1118.31.

The Canadian dollar closed at US76.92¢, up 0.41 of a cent.

On the TSX, financial stocks fell 0.56%, with Manulife Financial down 24¢ or 0.44% to $54.06, and all the major banks, except Bank of Nova Scotia, finishing lower, too.

Gold stocks fell 1.54% as the price of bullion declined $2.00 to US$406 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Barrick Gold (down 48¢ or 1.85% to $26) and Iamgold (down 24¢ or 2.48% to $9.45) were among the big losers.

Technology stocks were up (0.55%) as Open Text Corp. recovered (up $1.54 or 7.03% to $23.45) from Wednesday’s drubbing.

Energy stocks finished ahead 0.21%, although oil prices fell back after rising above the US$45 a barrel mark .

In New York, the dip in crude prices and a strong dose of bargain hunting helped lift the major indices to session highs in the afternoon.

Crude-oil futures fell back after rising above US$45 a barrel for the first time since Aug. 25. October crude was last up just 5¢ at US$44.05 cents at $44.46 a barrel after touching a high of $45.37.

Trading was muted ahead of U.S. employment data scheduled to be announced Friday. Investors were also holding their collective breath as Hurricane Frances took aim at Florida’s eastern coast, less than three weeks after Hurricane Charley struck the state, pushing the nation’s jobless claims higher and denting retail sales in the Southeast.

Investors were also waiting for the mid-quarter update from Intel, due after the close of regular trading. Intel shares dropped 7.5%. The outlook from Intel, the world’s largest manufacturer of computer chips, is seen as a harbinger of things to come throughout the tech sector.

Volume has been extremely thin this week due to the Republican National Convention in New York and the upcoming Labor Day holiday, but the fact that the market was up in spite of so many negative factors was cause for some optimism, analysts said.

In the final hour of trading, the Dow soared 105.90, or 1%.