Energy and resource stocks powered the Toronto Stock Exchange to a solid gain Wednesday, while a Dow Jones rally following upbeat remarks on the U.S. economy by Fed chief Alan Greenspan came up just short.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 69.56 points or 0.73% to 9639.59, while the TSX Venture exchange added 7.44 points or 0.39% to 1900.37. Gainers outnumbered losers by a margin of two to one.

The Dow, down throughout the session by as much as 33 points, rallied and briefly pushed into the black after Greenspan’s comments. But it finished the day down 2.44 points or 0.02%. The Nasdaq lost 1.78 points or 0.09% to 2087.43 and the S&P 500 was flat, up 0.22 of a point to 1210.34.

The Canadian dollar took a tumble Wednesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened on Greenspan’s comments. The currency was down 0.39 of a cent to US80.87¢ late in the day.

Toronto was led by the TSX metals and mining sub-index, which jumped 2.87% and the energy group, which advanced 2.14%. Energy stocks were powered, in part, by a gain in the futures price of crude oil. Crude climbed $1.07 to US$48.33 a barrel in New York.

In New York, stocks almost made it back to the unchanged mark as investors took in Greenspan’s upbeat assessment of the nation’s economy, while taking note of his warning that interest rates may still be too low.

Greenspan offered a rosy picture of the U.S. economy in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee. “All told, the economy seems to have entered 2005 expanding at a reasonably good pace, with inflation and inflation expectations well anchored,” Greenspan said.