Toronto stocks ended higher Wednesday, despite a drop in energy prices, as the financial sector put in a strong performance.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 66.62, or 0.60%, to finish at 11,247.25.

Volume on the senior exchange was 362 million shares.

Seven of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up.

The financial index gained 1.02% on the day.

Manulife Financial gained 70¢, or 1.02%, to $69.47, while Bank of Nova Scotia moved up 53¢, or 1.15%, to $46.78.

The energy sector gave up 0.54% on the session.

A barrel of light crude settled at US$58.55, down just 0.01¢, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The materials sector was up 1.71%.

After markets closed, Research In Motion reported a 33% rise in third-quarter profit a 53% jump in revenue, but the firm trimmed its subscriber forecast for its popular BlackBerry wireless e-mail devise.

RIM shares fell 99¢ , or 1.35%, to close at $72.50.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 14.32, or 0.67%, to 2,142.52.

In New York, major acquisitions news from Google Inc., Seagate Technologies and IBM Corp. gave a boost to the market, while lower-than-expected gross domestic product growth eased inflation fears.

Final third-quarter GDP was lower than anticipated, with the economy growing at an annualized rate of 4.1% instead of the expected 4.3%.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 28.18, or 0.26%, to 10,833.73.

Broader stock indicators also moved higher. The S&P 500 climbed 3.17, or 0.25%, to 1,262.79, while the Nasdaq composite index added 9.24, or 0.42%, to 2,231.66.