Toronto stocks ended higher Monday driven by a rally in technology shares. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 66.55 points to 7,068.43.

Information technology stocks rallied 2.53% alongside their U.S. counterparts on encouraging comments from Wall Street analysts about the sector.

Tundra Semiconductor climbed 50¢ to $11.50, Open Text Corp jumped $1.28 to $40.47, and bellwether Nortel Networks added 12¢ to $4.03.

Technology gains were held in check by losses in the energy and materials sectors both ended in negative territory.

Shares in Alcan, the world’s second-largest aluminum producer, finished down 74¢ at $41.56, after it launched a hostile bid for French rival Pechiney on Monday.

In economic news, Canada’s purchasing activity jumped to 67.4 in June from 50.6 in May, according to the Ivey Purchasing Managers Index released on Monday. A reading of 50 indicates that activity remained flat from the preceding month, while a higher reading indicates an increase and a lower reading reflects a slowing or decrease. Market sources had expected the June reading to show a small decline to about 50.

Small-cap stocks were left out of today’s rally. The TSX Venture composite index slid 8..61 points to 1,105.23.

In New York, stocks surged ahead on bullish comments on the chip sector and an anticipated economic recovery fueled buying of technology shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 146.58 points at 9,216.79. The broader S&P 500 index rose 18.8 points to 1,004.50. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ondex climbed 57.79 points, or 3.47%, to 1,721.25.

Investors have been betting on a rebound heading in to second-quarter earnings season, which starts this week.

The Canadian dollar closed down 0.35 of a cent at US74.22¢.