Toronto closed mixed Monday boosted by gains in technology shares and the heavily weighted financial group. The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 40.85 points, or 0.46%, at 8,937.22 on volume of 277 million shares.

That was the highest close for the benchmark index since February 2001. Eight of the 10 TSX groups finished higher.

Technology shares were up 1.6% as Nortel shares recovered from last week’s drubbing, when the firm announced yet another delay in refilling its financial statements. Nortel shares closed up 16¢, or 4.5%, at $3.74.

Financial stocks rose 1%, following profit taking on Friday.

CIBC shares climbed $1.42, or 2%, to $72.6e, after the bank said it will post an $85 million gain from selling interests in Republic Bank Ltd. of Trinidad and Tobago.

Other banks stocks were also higher. TD gained 60¢ to $48.24, while Royal Bank added 20¢ to $63.57. Insurers Manulife Financial and Sun Life also posted gains.

Energy stocks slumped 1.3% as the price of crude oil fell to US$46.80 a barrel.

Gold stocks dipped 1.15% as gold futures slipped from a 16-year high. Gold for December delivery traded at US$437.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down US$1.

Shares of Kinross Gold fell 4.3% to $9.49, after the firm said it is restating its third-quarter financial report, issued less than three weeks ago, to show a loss of US$133.6 million instead of a profit. Kinross said Monday it has changed its methodology for allocating “goodwill” values among its assets.

In other news, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Monday filed eight counts of civil fraud charges against Conrad Black, the former chairman of Hollinger International Inc.

Shares of Hollinger fell 25¢, or 4.2%, to $5.75.

The junior S&P/TSX venture composite index slipped 4.35 points, or 0.26%, to 1,654.60.

The Canadian dollar closed down 0.6% at US83.30¢ following the release a report from Statistics Canada that showed manufacturing shipments retreated 0.6% to $50.4 billion in September, as a marked decline in the aerospace industry weakened production.

The decreased ended a nine-month climb for shipments.

In New York, he blue-chip stocks and technology issues ended slightly higher as declining oil prices fell.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 11.23 points, or 0.11%, to close at 10,550.24. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite Index added 8.75 points, or 0.42%, to end at 2,094.09.

However, the broader S&P 500 dipped 0.36 of a point, or 0.03%, to finish at 1,183.81.

In other market news, Legg Mason Inc. closed down 36¢ to US$66.79 after it agreed to buy Scudder Private Investment Counsel and its US$5.8 billion in assets from Deutsche Bank, a deal that expands its money management business for high net worth individuals.

Legg Mason will pay US$55 million when the deal closes as expected by December 31.