Toronto stocks moved higher Monday, as a surge in oil and gold prices buoyed the overall market.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 73.04 points, or 0.62%, to 11,906.65.

Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, with the energy sector advancing 2.41%

Light, sweet crude gained $1.81 to settle at US$61.77 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

UTS Energy Corp. gained 32¢, or 4.90%, to $6.85.

The gold sub-sector lifted 0.80%. The benchmark April contract ended up $6.20 at US$547.50 an ounce.

Goldcorp. Inc. gained 83¢, or 2.71%, to $31.45.

CIBC tentatively agreed to buy a majority stake in FirstCaribbean International Bank for nearly $1.26 billion. CIBC shares rose 62¢, or 0.73%, to $83.78.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported that industries were operating about 86.3% of their capacity in the final quarter of 2005, slightly 0.2% higher than in the third quarter last year.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.29 of a cent at US86.39¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 20.10 points, or 2,588.93, to 2,588.93.

In New York, markets were generally flat as investors weighed two big corporate acquisitions against higher resource prices and lingering inflation worries.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed practically unchanged, down 0.32 of a point to 11,076.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended up 4.99 points at 2,267.03, while the S&P 500 Index rose 2.55 points to 1,284.13.

Credit card giant Capital One Financial Corp. agreed to buy North Fork Bancorp. Inc. in a stock-cash deal worth about US$14.6 billion.

Meanwhile U.S. newspaper chain McClatchy Co. bought rival Knight-Ridder for about US$4.5 billion in cash and stock.