Soaring oil prices lifted Toronto stocks to a higher close Monday, while U.S. markets dipped. The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 50.54 points, or 0.51%, to close at 9,998.11.

The market had traded above the 10,000-point plateau in intra-day trading.

Volume on the senior exchange was relatively modest at 182 million shares.

Seven of the 10 TSX main groups were up, with the energy sector advancing 2.03%. The August contract on crude oil was up 57¢to close at US$59.75 a barrel, after briefly hitting US$60 during the day.

EnCana Corp. gained $1.72, or 3.5%, to close at $50.90 after the oil and gas firm announced plans to sell or spin off its natural gas storage business. Western Oil Sands lifted 86¢, or 3.69%, to finish at $24.19.

The heavily weighted financials sector gained 0.5%.

Toronto Dominion Bank shares climbed on media reports that Ameritrade Holding Corp. is nearing a purchase of rival TD Waterhouse from the bank. TD shares rose 29¢ to $43.35.

The materials sector was off 1.11%, while industrials were down 1.14%

Ipsco Inc., dropped $4.70, or 8.95%, to close at $47.80. The steel maker had warned late Friday that its second-quarter earnings would fall below estimates previously given by the firm.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 2.64, or 0.15%, to close at 1,728.99.

The prospect of higher oil and gasoline prices hurt Wall Street stocks.

the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average lost 13.96, or 0.13%, to close at 10,609.11, the tech heavy Nasdaq composite index dipped 1.98, or 0.09%, to finish 2,088.13, and the broad-based S&P 500 index dropped 0.86, or 0.07%, to close at 1,216.10.

The U.S. Conference Board reported that its composite index of leading indicators fell 0.5% last month to 114.1, which was more than the 0.2% drop analysts had expected.