Toronto stocks moved higher Tuesday, as energy stocks surged. North American markets also reacted to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to end its streak of interest rate hikes.

The S&P/TSX composite index advanced 61.50, or 0.52%, to 11,988.18. The senior exchange was closed yesterday for the August civic holiday.

The U.S. central bank elected to hold rates, putting an end to a run of 17 consecutive quarter-point hikes. The wording of the announcement, however, left room for a resumption of the hikes if inflationary pressures persisted.

Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up. The energy index gained 1.71% despite a drop in the price of oil.

The September contract for light sweet crude ended 67¢ lower at US$76.31 a barrel.

EnCana Corp. moved up $1.28, or 2.13%, to $61.38.

The materials index was down 0.18%, while the gold sub-sector was up 0.27%.

The December contract for gold closed up $2.20 at US$657.30 an ounce.

Yamana Gold Inc. gained 31¢, or 2.53%, to $12.56.

The Canadian dollar move up 0.53 of a cent as it closed at US89.16¢.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index lost 12.47, or 0.47%, to 2,634.15.

In New York, markets were down as investors reacted to the wording of the Fed’s interest rate announcement.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 45.79 points at 11,173.59.
The S&P500 finished down 4.29 points at 1,271.48 and the Nasdaq moved down 11.65 points at 2,060.85.