Surging gold issues led Toronto stocks to solid gains Monday as bullion prices soared more than $8 US an ounce. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 87.96 points, or 1.06%, to close at 8,381.66.

The TSX gold index was up 3.4%. Gold futures were up US$8.70 US an ounce to close at US$424.80 US as the U.S. dollar slumped to yet another all-time low against the euro.

Gold futures traded above the US$425 US an ounce mark on the New York Commodity Exchange. The last time gold futures approached that territory was the summer of 1988.

Southwestern Resources rose $3.05 to $42.60; Placer Dome gained $1.04 to $24.50.

Shares in Cameco, Canada’s biggest uranium producer, climbed $1.63 to $77.58 after it said it would bundle its gold assets into a new company that it would list for trading in Canada.

There was also strength in technology and energy shares. Information technology stocks rose 3.5% and energy stocks climbed 2.7%.

The strength in IT stocks came after a report on semiconductor sales said chip sales rose for the fourth month in a row and analysts boosted ratings on several big tech names.

Nortel climbed 17¢ to $5.94; ATI Technologies gained $1.10 to $20.60.

Energy stocks rose as natural gas prices soared 10% and oil futures gained 4% as cold weather moved into the U.S. mid-west and northeastern states. Canadian Natural Resources, a company with a lot of gas exposure, saw its shares jump $3.72 to $70.66.

Shares in Rogers Communications and subsidiary Rogers Wireless jumped after Rogers issued stronger-than-expected guidance for the last quarter of 2003 and fiscal 2004. Rogers Communications stock closed at $22.53, up 97¢; Rogers Wireless shares surged $1.77 to $30.02.

The junior S&P/TSX venture composite index rose 15.02 points to finish at 1,780.86.

On Wall Street, U.S. markets added to 2003 gains with healthy jumps of their own. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 134.22 points to 10,544.07.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 40.68 points, or 2.03%, to 2,047.36.

The broader S&P 500 added 13.74 points to finish at 1,122.22

The Canadian dollar gained more than a third of a cent to US77.99¢ — another 10 year high.

In economic news, Statistics Canada released the latest numbers on manufacturers prices. They continued to weaken in November — down 0.4% from October. Compared with November 2002, prices fell 4%, largely as a result of the continuing effect of a strong Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar. Without the dollar’s influence, the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) would have risen 1% rather than falling 4.0% from a year ago.

The absence of producer price inflation is fuelling speculation that Canadian interest rates may go lower.