Toronto stocks eked out modest gains Monday, as a hot energy sector, fuelled by rising oil prices, was offset by lagging technology issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 1.92 points, or 0.02%, at 9,998.09.

Volume on the senior exchange was 197 million shares.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with information technology falling 2.08% and telecommunications services down 0.49%. The energy group was up 2.16%.

Crude oil for August delivery rose 81¢ to US$60.65 on the New York Mercantile Exchange beating a price record set last Thursday.

PetroKazakhstan Inc. spiked up $5.64, or 17.35%, to $38.15 after the oil and gas company said it is in talks with potential buyers or partners. The Calgary-based firm has been in a long-running dispute with Russian oil giant Lukoil over a joint venture.

Energy-sector heavyweight EnCana Corp. rose 58¢, or 1.16%, to close $50.78.

Nortel Networks fell 11¢, or 3.31%, to finish $3.21 ahead of its annual general meeting in Toronto on Wednesday. Research in Motion dropped $1.65, or 2.14%, to $75.46.

Telecom giant Telus Corp lost $1.01, or 2.26%, to close $43.69.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished down 5.63, or 0.33%, to close 1,713.32.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.10 of a cent at US81.24¢.

In New York, markets closed mixed as nervous investors factored in high oil prices and anticipated the Federal Reserve’s interest rate announcement on Thursday.

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average gained 7.28, or 0.07%, to close 10,305.12; the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 6.00 points, or 0.29%, to finish 2,047.27; while the broad based S&P 500 index lifted 0.65 points, or 0.05%, to finish 1,192.22.