Strength in financial stocks offset declines in consumer staples and information technology stocks on Monday, helping the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange finish higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 69.53 points, or 0.7%, to close at 10,757.43.

The financials group added 2.2%.

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. surged $3.07, or 8.8%, to $37.98, and Manulife Financial Corp. jumped $1.41, or 5.7%, to close at $26.05.

CIBC’s stock gained $1.50, or 2.3%, to end at $67.20.

Also higher was Bank of Montreal, up 1.6% to $52.50, and Bank of Nova Scotia, up 1.7% to $46.10.

Meanwhile, crude for September delivery rose 33 cents to finish at US$68.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gains helped boost the energy group by 0.2% during Monday’s trading.

Higher for the day was Niko Resources Ltd., up 1.1% to $78.76 and Canadian Oil Sands Trust, up 1.5% to $27.04.

Finishing lower were shares of Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp., down nearly 2% to $11.09, and Crescent Point Energy Corp., down 2.1% to $35.10.

The materials index slipped 0.1% on Monday despite an increase in gold futures. Gold for August delivery finished up 40 cents at US$953.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The sub-gold index retreated by 0.5%.

Shares of Yamana Gold Inc. dropped 1.9% to $9.98 and Franco-Nevada Corp. fell 1.7% to $26.55.

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. finished at $15.45, down 2.8%.

Materials group gainers included methanol producer Methanex Corp., up 1.7% to $18.20, and Quadra Mining Ltd., up 3.1% to $10.66.

The information technology group retreated by nearly 1% on Friday, led by a 3.7% drop in shares of Open Text Corp., which closed at $40.50.

Consumer staples shares fell 1.3% on Monday.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index edged up 3.62 points, or 0.3%, to close at 1,147.04.

The Canadian dollar continued to climb, adding 0.16 of a cent to close at US92.50¢. During Monday’s session, the loonie reached its highest level since early October.

South of the border, strength in financials helped the main U.S. stock market indices recover from earlier losses to finish with modest gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 15.27 points, or 0.2%, to end at 9,108.51.

The S&P 500 index gained 2.92 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 982.18.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 1.93 points, or 0.1%, to close at 1,967.89.

IE