Energy shares shrugged off a rebound in oil prices Monday and, together with financial stocks, helped lead Toronto’s S&P/TSX to a solid gain. The jump in oil prices kept U.S. markets in the black at the end of the day.

At close, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index added 60.91 points or 0.65% to 9430.21, while the TSX Venture Exchange fell 25.06 points or 1.47% to 1677.56.

On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow industrials ended the session ahead by 59.19 points or 0.58% to 10251.70. The Nasdaq composite added 7.00 points or 0.36% to 1928.65. The S&P 500 index gained 5.31 points or 0.46% at 1162.16.

The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, was up 0.20 of a cent to US79.66¢. On Friday, the loonie had plunged 0.43 of a U.S. cent – its lowest close in six months – amid uncertainty over a possible spring federal election.

On the markets, oil prices rose more than US$1 a barrel, reversing course from last week, when prices declined by more than 10% due to rising U.S. supplies and slower economic growth.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery climbed $1.20 to US$50.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where on Friday oil prices settled below US$50 a barrel for the first time since Feb. 18. A week ago, prices were above $55 a barrel.

Despite the rise in oil prices, the TSX energy group added 2.61%. It was led by EnCana Corp., which jumped $3.46 or 4.3% to $84.00 on strong first-quarter results.

Financial shares, meanwhile, added, 0.82%, with Bank of Nova Scotia among the most active of stocks in the group, adding 25¢ or 0.63% to $40.24.

Overall, the TSX’s most active stock was Nortel Networks Corp., which fell 30¢ or 9.37% to $2.90 after reporting dismal fourth-quarter results. About 23 million shares traded hands.

In New York, the drop in oil prices, combined with a jump in the stock of American International Group Inc. helped take investors minds off Tuesday’s meeting of the Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee.

The FOMC is expected to raise the nation’s benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to 3%.

AIG, the world’s largest insurer, advanced $2.63 or 5.17% to US$53.48 after saying it will correct five years of results, giving relief to some investors that its accounting missteps are behind the company. It was the day’s biggest rally in the Dow average.

Morgan Stanley, the No. 2 securities firm, dropped $3.12 or 5.93% to US$49.50. The company said its board decided to keep Philip J. Purcell as chairman and chief executive, rejecting demands by former executives that he be ousted.