Toronto stocks closed higher on Tuesday as tech issues climb on positive sales forecasts. The S&P/TSX composite index gained 35.86 points to close at 6,329.72.

Upbeat news on business trends from tech bellwethers Cisco Systems and Oracle convinced investors to head back into the battered sector.

Cisco said its backlog orders increased from September while Oracle forecasted a return to growth next year following two years of revenue declines.

Information technology stocks lead the TSX charge with a 4% increase. Shares of Nortel Networks ended up 14¢ at $2.02.

ATI Technologies advanced 45¢ to $10.85, while Celestica shares rose $1.31to $21.97.

Shares of TSX Group Inc., which saw its first official day of trading on its namesake Toronto Stock Exchange, closed at $19.95, up $1.95 from its offering price.

Market momentum was negative, however, as decliners outpaced advancers 546 to 491 while another 198 issues were unchanged. Volume was a moderate 173 million shares valued at $2 billion.

The junior TSX Venture Exchange moved up 5.73 points to 955.18.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 27.05 points to 8,368, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index finished the session up 30.37 points at 1,349.56. the S&P 500 index was up 6.76 points to 882.95.

The Canadian dollar finished at US63.39¢, down sharply from Friday’s official Bank of Canada close of US63.92¢. The central bank was closed on Monday for Remembrance Day.