North American stocks rallied Wednesday with the Dow Jones industrial average closing above 13,000 for the first time.

In Toronto, a surging resource sector boosted the S&P/TSX composite index 82.52 points, or 0.61%, to close at 13,672.85.

Seven of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up.

The energy index rose 1.03%.

Light, sweet crude futures rose $1.26 to close at US$65.84 a barrel.

Nexen Inc. rose 62¢, or 0.91%, to $68.50.

The materials index rose 0.87%, while the gold sub-sector gained 0.43%.

Gold futures fell 30¢ to close US$687.40 an ounce.

Barrick Gold Corp. gained 19¢, or 0.60%, to $32.07.

The information technology group rose 1.02%.

Research in Motion gained $3.28, or 2.22%, to $151.28.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index inched up 1.37 points, or 0.04%, to 3,302.18.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.66¢ to US89.73¢, its highest close since last September, on continued weakness of the greenback against major international currencies.

In New York, markets went higher on an encouraging durable goods report and strong corporate earnings news.

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 135.95 points, or 1.05%, to 13,089.89, setting an all-time record and busting through the 13,000-point plateau.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 23.35, or 0.92%, to 2,547.89, and the S&P500 rose 15.01, or 1.01%, to 1,495.42.