Toronto stocks finished higher Wednesday as soaring gold stocks offset a slide in bank shares. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 16.16 points to 7,491.07.

Gold shares rallied 3.4% as the price of bullion continued to climb.

Barrick Gold jumped $1.35 to $27.70, while Placer Dome rose 56¢ to $19.10.

The heavily weighted financial services index shed 0.8%.

Financial stocks were stuck in negative territory as investors mulled over CIBC’s third-quarter earnings report. CIBC shares fell $1.03 to $55.05.

The bank reported a big profit jump, banking $788 million in the quarter, up from $193 million in the quarter last year. However, much of the profit improvement came due to fewer writedowns and a tax windfall.

TD Bank dropped 59¢ to $38.51, while Royal Bank fell 91¢ to $60.50.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index climbed 22.65 points to 1,272.38.

In New York, stocks ended lower on Wednesday as disappointing results Hewlett-Packard weighed on blue chips.

Dell further dampened the mood after it said it cut prices on computers for businesses and consumers, computer printers and other products by up to 22%, saying it wanted to pass savings on to its customers.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 31.39 points, to 9,397.51, and the S&P 500 Index fell 2.05 points to 1,000.30. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ndex fell just 0.57 of a point to 1,760.54.

The Canadian dollar slipped against the U.S. currency. The loonie closed at US71.23¢, down from US71.60¢ cents at Tuesday’s close.