Stocks in Toronto finished the day with moderate gains. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index added 49.83 points, or 0.76%, climbing to 6,637.08. Six of the 10 TSX sub-indices finished higher.

Tensions in the mideast drove up gold prices to three year highs, affecting markets north and south of the 49th parallel.

On the TSX, golds finished up 7.4%. Kinross Gold Corp. rose 40 cents, or 13.7%, to $3.32. Goldcorp added $1.44, or 8.2%, to $18.94. Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. leapt $1.60, or 8.1%, to finish at $21.30. Barrick Gold Corp. safer from bullion price shifts due to its hedge position, rose $1.18, or 5%, to $24.60.

Energy stocks rose 2.11% after OPEC ministers agreed to cut excess supplies, and a strike in Venezuela choked shipments from the world’s fifth largest oil exporter. EnCana Corp. added $1.67, or 3.7%, to $46.90. Precision Drilling Corp. edged up $2.40, or 4.4%, to finish today’s trading at $57.60.

The S&P/TSX venture composite index closed up 18.53 at 983.60. Trading was very heavy on a volume of 53.0 million shares worth 17.2 million dollars, with 285 advances, 177 declines and 656 issues unchanged.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average fell 51.21 points, or 0.60%, to 8,537.93. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid slightly – down 3.43 points, or 0.38%, to 901.53. The Nasdaq composite index added a mere 2.71 points, or 0.19 to 1,399.30.