Toronto stocks spiked on Monday, as investors took in merger and acquisition news in the gold sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 94.24 points, or 0.77%, to 12,333.28.

our Seasons Hotels Inc. shares jumped 29% to $93.06 after a bid to take the luxury hotel operator private was presented by founder Isadore Sharp, along with Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and Saudi prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, but the gold sector, a sub-index of materials, fell 1.67%.

The December futures contract for gold closed down $1.30 at US$627.90 an ounce.

Kinross Gold Corp. announced a friendly takeover of Bema Gold Corp. for $3.5 billion in stock. Kinross fell $1.46, or 9.74%, to $13.53, while Bema shares gained 57¢, or 10.56%, to $5.97.

The energy sector gained 1.64% as light, sweet crude for December delivery closed up 88¢ at US$60.02 a barrel.

Imperial Oil Ltd. gained 80¢, or 2.00%, to $40.90.

The information technology sector advanced 2.9% as Nortel Networks Corp. improved 15¢ to $2.70 and Research In Motion Ltd. gained $4.50 to $135.98.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.02 of a cent to US88.57¢ after data showed building permits sagged 2.5% in September.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite lifted 12.04 points, or 0.46%, to 2,653.95.

In New York, markets were up on strong corporate news, bouncing back after several week sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Index rose 119.51 points to 12,105.55, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 35.16 points to 2,365.95, while the S&P 500 gained 15.48 points to 1,379.78.