Toronto stocks ended higher Wednesday, as a strong day in gold and financial stocks offset weakness in the energy group.

The S&P/TSX composite index advanced 40.32 points, or 0.38%, to close at 10,656.54.

Volume on the senior exchange was 243 million shares.

Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up on the day, but the key energy group was off 0.50%.

Crude closed at US$58.90 a barrel, down 78¢, in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Suncor Energy Inc. dropped 73¢, or 1.31%, to $54.92.

Penn West Energy Trust reported third-quarter profits of $210 million, a jump of over 170% from last year. Unit price increased $1.11, or 3.47%, to $33.11.

The financials sector surged ahead 1.20%, as Manulife Financial gained $1.37, or 2.12%, to $66.06.

Canaccord Capital reported net income of $15.7 million in the third quarter, a 150% increase. Its shares rose 76¢, or 6.17%, to $13.08.

The gold sector advanced 2.23% as the December contract for bullion on the Nymex rose $5.20 to US$467.50 an ounce.

Goldcorp reported a profit of US$56.5 million, up US$9.9 million a year ago. Shares lifted 56¢, or 2.43%, to $23.60.

In the technology group, Research in Motion shares lost $3.28 to $72.31 as investors worry a patent infringement case will result in a shutdown of its Blackberry wireless device in the United States.

The Canadian dollar was unchanged at US84.3¢.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 5.40 points , or 0.27%, to 2,038.27.

On Wall Street, an early rally was squelched by news of suicide bombing attacks on three hotels in Jordan, causing at least 23 deaths.

The Dow Jones industrial average eked out a gain of 6.49 points, or 0.06%, to 10,546.2. The S&P 500 rose 2.06, or 0.17%, to 1,220.65, and the Nasdaq composite index inched up 3.74, or 0.17%, to 2,175.81.

After the bell, Cisco Systems reported that net income dropped US$100 million to US$1.3 billion. Its shares had closed 11¢ lower to US$17.75.