Toronto stocks closed higher Wednesday for the eighth straight session. The S&P/TSX composite index inched up 3.99 points to finish at 7,867.68.

Gold-mining stocks climbed 1% , while the influential financial group added 0.4%. However, a 1% slide among information technology issues kept the market’s gain in check.

Placer Dome rose 71¢ to $20.66, while Glamis Gold climbed 42¢ to $19.03.

All six big banks rose on the day, with BMO, Royal, TD, and CIBC hitting new year highs.

Among mining issues, Canadian Natural Resources fell 15¢ to $54.25 after reporting much higher Q3 earnings on higher commodity prices.

Inco fell $1.18 to $43.72.

Among technology issues, Nortel shares fell 18¢ to $5.78. It said it would buy the 28% stake of Nortel Networks Israel it doesn’t already own.

ATI Technologies shares fell 55¢ to $19.40 after its president revealed plans to sell up to 1 million of his shares.

In other earnings news, Molson stock added 20¢ to $34.20 as it reported higher profits and higher beer sales.

Shoppers Drug Mart also reported a strong third quarter, boosting its stock 83¢ to $29.47.

CAE shares dropped 27¢ to $5.63 ahead of its quarterly earnings report.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index jumped 17.40 points to 1,608.75.

On Wall Street, blue-chip stocks declined while the rest of the market flat as investors, as waited for Friday’s employment data.

Technology stocks staged a late-day rally, nudging the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index up into positive territory. The Nasdaq rose 1.41 points to 1,959.37.

Tech bellwether Cisco rose US22¢to US$21.80 ahead its after-hour earnings report. The report came in better than expected and Cisco shares surged to US$23 in extended trading.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average fell 18 points, or to 9,820.83. The S&P 500 dipped 1.44 points to 1,051.81.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.21 of a cent to US75.05¢.