Toronto stocks moved up Tuesday, as a spike in the energy and financials sectors largely offset a decline in the information technology group.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 32.40, or 0.28%, to 11,597.61.

Volume on the senior exchange was 378 million shares.

Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, with the energy sector gaining 0.93% despite a slight drop in the benchmark futures price for oil. The February contract for crude ended down 13¢ at US$63.37 a barrel.

Compton Petroleum rose $1.38, or 8.11%, to $18.39 after it reported its Collum natural gas well is producing about 1,300 oil-equivalent barrels per day.

The materials sector fell 0.96%. Gold for February delivery ended down $4.80 at US$545.70 an ounce.

Eldorado Gold Corp. declined 8¢, or 1.29%, to $6.14.

The financials sector moved ahead 0.40%.

CI Financial Inc. reported an 82% increase in quarterly profit to $75.7 million over the same period last year.

The information technology sector was off 0.73%. Nortel Networks fell 2¢, or 0.52%, to $3.83.

In economic news, Canada Mortgage and Housing reported the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 227,700 units in December, up a bit from November.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 0.16, or 0.01%, to 2,312.64.

After a blistering start to 2006, New York markets were decidedly flat on the session due to mixed corporate earnings news.

The Dow Jones industrial index slipped a mere 0.32 of a point to end virtually unchanged at 11,011.58. The Nasdaq composite index inched ahead 1.63 points to 2,320.32, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.46 point to 1,289.69.