Toronto energy stocks surged ahead on higher crude oil prices Monday. At midday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 78.50 points, or 0.84% to 9,445.99.

All 10 of the TSX main groups were higher, led by a 1.82% jump in the energy index 1 as crude futures continued to add to last week’s gains.

Crude oil in New York was trading up 31¢ to US$55.70 a barrel.

Petro-Canada was up $1.43, or 2%, at $72.20, while Talisman Engery rose $1.31, or 3.36%, to $40.32.

The information technology group was up 1.74%. Nortel gained 5¢to $3.38; Celestica added 55¢, or 3.74%, to $15.24.

Research in Motion rose $1.64, or 2%, to $82.59 as it announced deals to introduce its BlackBerry mobile communications device in Romania.

The heavily weighted financials group was up 0.40%, while the resource heavy materials group was ahead 0.66%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was off 2.45 points at 1,749.02.

In New York, stocks got a lift from recent merger announcements, including Valero Energy’s US$6.9 million offer to acquire rival Premcor.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 96.36 points, or 0.95%, to 10,254.07.

The Dow got a further lift after the release of new data showing the sales of existing U.S. homes rose in March to near-record levels. The median selling price of a U.S. home is up 11.4% since March of last year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 18.73 points, or 0.97%, to 1,950.92.

The broader S&P 500 index was up 10.68 points, or 0.93%, at 1,162.80.