The Toronto Stock Exchange kicked off the week with gains on Monday, as strength in financial sector stocks offset weakness in the materials group.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 78.81 points, or 0.7%, to close at 11,332.04.

The financials group rose 1.3% on Monday.

Bank of Nova Scotia’s stock jumped $1.07, or 2.3% to $46.70.

CIBC shares rose 1.5% to $63.85 and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. surged 3.8% to $385.00.

Also higher was Sun Life Financial Inc., up 2.9% to $31.23, and Manulife Financial Corp., up 1.7% to $21.86.

Oil futures finished lower on Monday, but energy stocks on the TSX continued to climb, gaining 0.9%. Crude for October delivery dropped 43 cents, or 0.7%, to finish at US$68.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Suncor Energy Inc. rose 1.7% to $37.35 and Nexen Inc. added 1.9% to $24.56.

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. gained 1.3% to $71.15.

Meanwhile, gold for December delivery ended down 0.5% at US$1,001.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The decline dragged the sub-gold index down 1% on Monday, while the materials group fell 0.9%.

Shares of First Quantum Minerals Ltd. tumbled $3.40, or 4.5%, to $72.10.

Inmet Mining Corp. fell 2.6% to $57.14 and Barrick Gold Corp. retreated by 1.6% to $40.51.

Higher for the day was Iamgold Corp., up 1.5% to $15.40, and Teck Resources Ltd., which gained 1.4% to end at $28.75.

Shares of Thomson Reuters Corp. jumped 3.9% after it announced that its tax and accounting business had signed an agreement to acquire the Abacus Enterprise suite of products and related business operations from Deloitte LLP. Thomson Reuters’ stock added $1.44 to close at $37.95. The boost helped the consumer discretionary group on the TSX gain 1.3% on Monday.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index retreated by 8.06 points, or 0.6%, to close at 1,253.83.

The Canadian dollar dropped by nearly half a cent, to finish at US92.29¢.

In New York, U.S. equities also finished with gains on Monday, as strength in utility, financial and industrial sector stocks helped the market recover from early-day losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 21.39 points, or 0.2%, to end at 9,626.80.

The S&P 500 index climbed 6.61 points, or 0.6%, to 1,049.34.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 10.88 points, or 0.5%, to 2,091.78.

IE