Record high gold and oil prices boosted Toronto stocks on Wednesday.

The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 93.70 points, or 0.68%, to end at 13,926.76 in the first trading day of the year.

Despite the big advance, only four of the 10 TSX main groups ended higher.

The materials sector led the advance, rising 3.8%, while its gold subsector soared 7.5% as the price of gold touched a record US$861.10 an ounce, helped by a weaker U.S. dollar and international political tensions.

The heavyweight energy sector climbed 2.1% as oil briefly hit the highly anticipated US$100 a barrel mark amid violence in oil-producer Nigeria and tight energy stockpiles. Crude eased to US$99.62, but was still up US$3.64.

Barrick Gold rose $3.87, or 9.3%, to $45.65, while Canadian Natural Resources was up $1.57, or 2.2%, at $74.15.

Financial stocks led the downside, falling 1.6%. Bank of Montreal was off 73¢, or 1.3%, at $55.60, while Bank of Nova Scotia slid 65¢, or 1.3%, to $49.63.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 30.83 points, or 1.09%, at 2,870.49.

The volatile Canadian dollar moved down 0.15 of a cent to US100.73¢.

In New York, stocks sank after data showed a surprise contraction in U.S. manufacturing and oil prices surged.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 220.86 points, or 1.67%, at 13,043.96. The S&P 500 was down 21.20 points, or 1.44%, at 1,447.16. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 42.65 points, or 1.61%, to 2,609.63.

The U.S. Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing survey index showed factory activity fell to 47.7 in December, its weakest level since April 2003.