Toronto stocks moved higher Wednesday, as a new bid for Alcan Inc. and a bounce back after yesterday’s modest sell off boosted the broader market.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 34.16 points, or 0.24%, to 14,166.09.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up.

The energy index gained 0.19%.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery closed down 25¢ at US$72.56 a barrel.

EnCana Corp. gained 2¢, or 0.03%, to $66.16.

The materials group moved up 0.94%, but the gold sub-index fell 0.58%. Gold futures moved down $2.30 at US$662.10 an ounce.

Alcan Inc. rose $4.20, or 4.66%, to $94.40 as the miner reportedly received a takeover bid from Rio Tinto.

Utilities fell 1.10%. TransAlta Corp. lost 59¢, or 2.01%, to $28.70.

The junior S&P/TSX venture composite index gained 20.46, or 0.63%, to 3,268.75.

The Canadian dollar dropped 0.21 of a cent to US94.89¢.

In New York, markets rebounded from yesterday’s big losses as investors hoped that strong quarterly earnings would overshadow continuing fallout from the sub-prime mortgage meltdown.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 76.17 points, or 0.56%, to 13,577.87, the Nasdaq composite index rose 12.63, or 0.48%, to 2,651.79, and the S&P 500 lifted 8.64, or 0.57%, to 1,518.76.