Stocks in Toronto finished higher on light volume today. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index added just 24.19 points, or 0.37%, at 6,593.68. Six of the 10 TSX sub-indices finished higher, but none of them moved much.

It seems many investors are anxiously waiting to see what the U.S. is going to do about Iraq. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell scheduled release new information to the United Nations on Wednesday.

Even gold shares dropped in the midst of investor unease about war. Despite the fact that bullion prices stayed at $370 per ounce, gold issues slid 1.19%. Goldcorp fell 39¢, or 2.1%, to $18.46. Kinross Gold Corp. dropped 50¢ to $10.51.

But there was a bright spot in today’s trading. Investors on both sides of the 49th parallel were pleasantly surprised by strong data on the U.S. manufacturing sector. The Institute of Supply Management index of manufacturing activity came in at 53.9 in January, just above expectations of 53.7. That was a slight drop from December, but the index still reflects healthy economic growth.

That news boosted stocks on both of the Canadian indexes. The S&P/TSX venture composite index closed up 0.81 at 1117.96. Trading was heavy on a volume of 48.1 million shares worth 22.4 million dollars, with 231 advances, 215 declines and 475 issues unchanged.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average added 56.01 points, or 0.7%, to 8,109.82. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 4.62 points, or 0.54%, to 860.32. The Nasdaq Composite added 2.88 points, or 0.22%, to 1,323.79.