Toronto stocks ended higher on Monday, as investors prepared for the onslaught of corporate earnings season. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 28.18 points to finish at 8,380.37.

Six of the TSX 10 subgroups finished higher, led by the information technology sector, which rose 2.03%.

Tech bellwether Nortel Networks, up 45% last week, rose 25¢ to $7.90.

Celestica added 94¢ to $23.40 while Tundra Semiconductor was up $1.05 at $29.60.

The energy group rose 0.77%, while telecoms were up 0.85% and financials rose 0.4%.

Industrials, healthcare, utilities and materials all finished lower.

The materials sector, home to gold and mining stocks, was off 0.74%.

Alcan slipped 76¢ to $59.06, after Prudential downgraded the stock to “neutral weight” from “overweight,” citing the valuation and the effects of a high Canadian dollar.

Noranda fell 71¢ to $19.35, while Cameco shed 95¢ to $68.80. The decline came after uranium supplier warned it was locked into long-term sales contracts that would limit its benefit from rallying uranium prices.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index advanced 12.41 points to close at 1,816.98.

In New York, stocks edged higher in choppy trading Monday, with investors making few moves as they waited for companies to start reporting their fourth-quarter earnings this week.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average closed up 26.29, points at 10,485.18.

The broader gauges were also higher. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 24.86 to finish at 2,111.78, its highest close since July 2001. The broader S&P 500 index rose 5.37 to close at 1,127.23.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.31¢ to US $78.36 cents, even though Finance Minister Ralph Goodale told an audience in Regina that Canada’s finances are heading for better days.

He said the federal budget remains in the black and economic forecasters think the economy will grow about 3% in 2004.

Goodale is on a cross-country series of consultations on the upcoming budget.