North American markets closed higher Wednesday, with falling oil prices lighting a fire under Wall Street and rising prices for gold giving Bay Street a boost.

At close, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 54.97 points or 0.66% to 8371.37, while the TSX Venture Exchange jumped 14.02 points or 0.93% at 1521.31.

The Dow industrial average jumped about 60 points in afternoon trading to close 83.11 points or 0.82% higher at 10181.74. Volume, as it has been in recent sessions, was light. The Nasdaq gained 23.83 points or 1.3% at 1860.72 and the S&P 500 edged up 8.77 points or 0.8% to 1104.96.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.04 of a cent to US76.59¢.

Crude for October delivery closed under $44 a barrel for the first time since Aug. 6 while gasoline prices fell as much as 6% on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Also, Iraq’s most powerful Shiite cleric arrived home from Britain, calling for an end to the fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite militants in Najaf, Iraq. The call for peace eased the threat of disruptions to oil output in the nation. Crude for October delivery was last trading down $1.66, or 3.7%, at $43.55.

In Toronto, gold stocks rose as gold traded up $4.50 at US$409.50 an ounce in New York. The TSX gold sub-index increased 2.40%, led by Iamgold Corp. (up 3.26%), Wheaton River (1.71%) and Kinroos Gold (4.2%).

Technology stocks were also strong, gaining 1.33%, while financials and energy were also ahead on the day, 0.62% and 0.33%, respectively.

Financial shares were held back by TD Band Financial Group, which announced it was in talks about a possible deal with Banknorth Group of Maine. But investors sent the stock lower by 3.04% with more than 4.4 million shares trading hands. CIBC was up 0.36% despite reporting lower third-quarter earnings.

More than 43 million shares of common and class A Air Canada stock traded hands on its final day of listing. The stock was up 20% to 0.06¢. New Air Canada shares are set to begin trading in September or October when the airline emerges from bankruptcy protection.

Bombardier Inc. was the TSX’s second most active stock with more than 25.4 million shares trading hands. It fell 5.48% on lower quarterly earnings and a report by Moody’s Investors Service that the agency may cut the debt ratings for the plane and train maker.