Toronto closed higher for the seventh straight session Monday. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 21.92 points at 7,284.54.

Volume was 238,318,000 shares.

The benchmark index was lifted by 1% gains in the telecoms, utilities and healthcare sectors.

Telus Corp (ended 2.81%, or 67¢, higher at $24.52 ahead of tomorrow’s Q2 earnings release.

Among utilities, Enbridge Inc gained 1.5%, or 75¢, to $50.85.

Among Monday’s losers, gold stocks were down 0.41% despite strength in bullion prices. Barrick Gold slipped down 15¢ at $25.50.

After the close, Barrick reported second quarter net earnings of US$59 million, or US11¢ per share.

The energy group ended down 0.48%. Penn West Petroleum was down 39¢ at $41.70 while Nexen fell 20¢ to $36.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index advanced 5.02 points to 1,164.55.

In New York, stocks closed mixed as investors digested a mixed batch of earnings reports and braced for key economic data due later this week.

A report on U.S. consumer confidence is due out on. On Friday, the July employment figures will be released.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average fell 18.06 points, to 9,266.51, while the broader S&P 500 slipped 2.16 points to 996.52. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 4.64 points to 1,735.34.

The Canadian dollar slipped against the U.S. dollar finishing at US72.23¢, down from US72.48¢ at Friday’s session close.