Toronto stocks rose Monday morning as stronger oil and gold sectors led the index higher. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 18.84 points, or 0.21%, at 9,025.06. Volume was 108 million shares.

Six of the index’s 10 main groups made gains.

Gold stocks, which are part of the TSX material group, rose 1.59% helped by firmer gold prices.

Placer Dome was up 53¢, or 2.46%, at $22.07. Kinross Gold was up 13¢, or 1.59%, at $8.32.

The overall materials group gained 0.74%. Ivanhoe Mines , which said on Monday that its shares will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange Jan. 18, rose 20¢, or 2.53%, to $8.12.

Energy stocks climbed 0.71% as crude prices heated up on supply worries due to sabotage at Iraqi facilities.

Precision Drilling rose 73¢, or 1%, to $73.25, while Canadian Natural Resources gained 65¢, or 1.31%, to $50.10.

Technology shares slipped 0.07% as Research In Motion dropped 50¢, or 0.55%, to $90.50.

Nortel Networks, which is expected to begin filing restated 2003 earnings after markets close on Monday, was down 1¢, or 0.24% at $4.08.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was ahead 5.23 points, or 0.29%, at 1,790.13.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks rose, with tobacco stocks getting a boost after Morgan Stanley raised the price target for Altria Group, the parent of tobacco company Philip Morris.

Comcast shares climbed 2.3% following a report that the U.S. cable operator is set to announce an ambitious push into the phone business.

At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 35.55 points, or 0.34%, at 10,639.51. The S&P 500 was up 6.57 points, or 0.55%, at 1,192.76. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index was up 17.69 points, or 0.85%, at 2,106.30.