Markets maintained their pre-Christmas momentum Wednesday as Bay Street shrugged off a dip in oil prices and Wall Street cheered some good economic news.

At close, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index increased 13.69 points or 0.15% to 9251.17 for its eighth straight increase after spending the first part of the day in the red. The TSX Venture Exchange added 4.86 points or 0.28% to 1751.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 56.46 points or 0.52% to 10815.89 while the Nasdaq Composite Index added 6.12 points or 0.28% to 2157.03 and the S&P 500 rose 4.12 points or 0.34% to 1209.57.

The Canadian dollar lost almost three-quarters of a cent against the U.S. dollar after the price of oil fell and an economic report showed strong U.S. growth in the third quarter. The dollar was trading at US80.53 late in the day.

On the oil front, a U.S. government report of surprising increases in supplies of oil and distillate fuel, which includes heating oil and diesel, sent the price for light, sweet crude down. Crude for February delivery traded as low as US$43.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before closing at US$44.24, down $1.52. That marked the lowest close since Dec. 14.

The slide in oil prices depressed Canadian markets early in the day, but stocks bounced back. They were led by financial shares, which gained 0.61%. But consumer stocks were also strong — in particular Coolbrands International Inc., which was jumped 23.6% to $8.91 after the company agreed to buy the yogurt business of Kraft Foods Inc., including the rights to several trademarks and a U.S. factory, for US$59 million.

In New York, the yearend rally continued thanks to the drop in oil prices and a surprise uptick in the nation’s gross domestic product pushed stocks higher.

Wall Street welcomed the Commerce Department’s final third-quarter GDP reading, which rose to 4% from previous estimates of 3.9%.

The GDP report gave many investors hope that the fourth-quarter reading will be stronger than expected. Analysts had feared that low job growth high energy prices would stifle economic growth. Oil prices, in particular, were seen as an extra drain on consumers’ incomes, but the Commerce Department figure, along with the Energy Department’s inventory report, assuaged some of those concerns.

Investors also took note of the departure of Fannie Mae’s chief executive Franklin Raines and chief financial officer J. Timothy Howard, hoping that the mortgage giant can now move beyond its accounting scandals. The company is the biggest player in the country’s $8 trillion mortgage market. Fannie Mae’s stock has suffered since Sept. 22, when the company said the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating its finances. On Wednedsay, news of the resignations sent shares of Fannie Mae climbing 1.99% to US$71.75.

Wednesday was a good day generally speaking for the major indices tracking bank and brokerage stocks. They hit decade-long highs amid an improving loan market and as bullish capital-markets sentiment took hold as the year winds down.

The Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index rose 0.6% to 151.71, and the Philadelphia Bank Sector Index climbed 0.5% to 104.09. The S&P Insurance Index also rose, adding 0.1% to 318.31.