Stocks in Toronto overcame early jitters to finish higher today. Investor caution ahead of the anniversary of the NYC terrorist attacks, as well as the sound of America-Iraq wardrums, had the positive effect of boosting gold stocks.

The Toronto Stocks Exchange S&P/TSX composite index closed up slightly – 42.47 points to 6522.22. Seven of the TSX’s 10 subindexes closed higher, led by a 3% rise among the gold issues.

Barrick Gold Corp. closed up 90¢, or 3.5%, at $26.60 a share, while Placer Dome Inc. rose 30¢ts, or 1.8%, to $16.70.

Financial issues were also boosted today. The push came fromr Bank of Nova Scotia after it announced that it signed a framework deal to invest in China’s Xian City Commercial Bank. Shares of Scotiabank rose 59¢, or 1%, at $46.84. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce jumped 85¢, or 2%, to $43.25.

South of the 49th parallel, stocks also rebounded from morning jitters. The Dow Jones industrial index rose 92.18 points to 8,519.38, after falling more than 100 points. The Standard & Poor’s 500 added 9.04 points, climbing to 902.96. The Nasdaq composite index rose 9.30 points to 1,304.60, after sliding almost 1.5% earlier in the day.