Toronto stocks posted modest gains Monday as stocks traded in a narrow range ahead of corporate earnings season. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 20.61 points, or 0.23%, to 9,026.83.

Volume was 227 million shares.

The materials sector, home to gold-mining stocks, rose 0.66%, while the energy group chipped in with a 0.52% gain. Seven of the 10 main TSX groups finished higher.

Crude oil futures traded above US$47 a barrel Monday, before falling back. Crude for February delivery traded as high as US$47.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a level not seen since Dec. 1. But the contract closed at US$45.33, down 10¢ for the session.

EnCana rose $1.00, or 1.5%, to $66.70, while Canadian Natural Resources finished ahead 55>, or 1%, at $50.00.

Among technology issues, Nortel Networks advanced 2¢ to $4.11.

Nortel said it expects to begin filing its audited financial statements for 2003 after the close of trading Monday, with the documents due to be publicly available early Tuesday.

Other stocks in the news included Biovail, whose shares gained more than 1% to $19.84. The said today its board is actively engaged with management in a comprehensive review of Biovail’s corporate-governance practices.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 3.85 points, 0.22%, to 1,781.05.

The Canadian dollar closed at US81.79¢ versus the U.S. dollar, up from Friday’s Bank of Canada close of US81.17¢.

On Wall Street, U.S. markets also closed with small gains, after stocks retreated from their best levels in the final hour of trading.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 17.07 points, or 0.16%, at 10,621.03.

The S&P 500 rose up 4.06 points, or 0.34%, to 1,190.25. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was up 8.43 points, or 0.40%, at 2,097.04.

U.S. earnings season kicks off this week.