A retreat in the price of oil did not deter Toronto stocks from closing higher Tuesday, and helped New York markets post strong gains. The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 42.94 points, or 0.43%, at 10,041.03.

Volume on the senior exchange was 173 million shares.

Nine of the 10 TSX main were up, with the heavily weighted financials sector, which went up 1.76%, leading the way. Only the energy sector, which fell 1.18%, was down.

Light crude settled at $58.20, down $2.34, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

EnCana Corp. fell 68¢, or 1.34%, to close $50.10 on heavy trading.

The biggest gainer on the day was Aquest Energy Inc., which soared 59¢, or 34.92%, to $2.28. The tiny oil-and-gas firm announced it was being bought by privately held Anderson Energy Ltd. in an all-share deal.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 3.95, or 0.23%, to finish at 1,709.37.

On Wall Street, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average jumped 114.85 points, or 1.12%, to 10,405.63, ending a seven-session losing streak.

The tech heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 24.69, or 1.21%, to finish 2,069.89, while the broad based S&P 500 closed up 10.88, or 0.91%, to 1,201.57.

U.S. markets also got a lift from an improvement in consumer confidence. The U.S. Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 105.8 in June, up from 102.2 in May, and exceeded expectations.