Toronto stocks moved higher Wednesday, powered ahead by strength in the resource sector and a good session in the technology group.

The S&P/TSX composite index moved up 51.84 points, or 0.40%, to 12,910.32.

Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, with the energy index surging 1.15%.

Light, sweet crude futures rose 35¢ to US$61.37 a barrel.

EnCana Corp. gained 80¢, or 1.33%, to $60.99.

The materials index moved up 0.49%, but the gold sub-sector lost 0.01%. Gold futures gained 70¢ cents to close at US$632.40 an ounce.

Gabriel Resources Ltd. lost 9¢, or 1.80%, to $4.91.

The information technology group gained 0.91%. Research in Motion Inc. gained $3.64, or 2.54%, to $147.20.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.36 of a cent to US86.45¢, continuing its recent downward trend.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 14.29 points, or 0.52%, to 2,786.61.

In New York, markets posted modest gains on encouraging economic news offset by higher energy prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished ahead by 1.92 point at 12,317.50, after touching an all-time record high of 12,368 during intra-day trading.

The S&P 500 gained 1.66 points to close at 1,413.22, while the Nasdaq composite index lifted by 0.81 of a point to 2,432.41.