Toronto stocks closed higher on Tuesday, despite a drop among gold issues, as developments in a U.S. insurance scandal boosted the heavily weighted financials group. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 69.02 points, or 0.79%, to 8,818.18 on volume of 214 million shares.

The information technology group rose 1.6% to lead all sectors, while the financial index followed gained 1%.

Nine of the TSX’s 10 main group finished higher. Only the utilities group closed lower.

Financial stocks enjoyed news from the United States that the chief executive of insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Cos. had quit. After the resignation, New York’s Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who accused the company of rigging insurance prices, said he would not press criminal charges.

Manulife Financial rose $1.26, or 2.4%, to $54.66.

Technology stocks rose on bargain-hunting.

Nortel Networks, which will receive $35 million from Foundry Networks to settle a lawsuit, rose 10¢ or 2.5%, to $4.17, while Research In Motion finished up $2.55, or 2.5%, at $105.48.

Gold-mining issues fell 1% as gold futures pulled back from a near 16-year peak as the U.S. dollar made ground against the euro.

Goldcorp dropped 32¢, or 1.8%, to $17.13, while Placer Dome fell 34¢, or 1.3%, to $26.70.

On Wall Street, investors took heart that problems in the insurance industry might not be as serious as previously thought.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 138.49 points, or 1.4%, at 9,888.48 while the S&P 500 Index rose 16.29 points, or 1.5%, to 1,111.09.

The Nasdaq composite index was up 14.75 points, or 0.8%, to 1,928.79.