Toronto stocks surged ahead Wednesday to a new record high, boosted by takeover speculation surrounding Canadian Pacific Railway and rising energy and gold-mining issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 201.65 points, or 1.4%, at 14,583.66. That’s the first time the index has cleared the 14,500 mark.

CP Rail acknowledged it has been approached by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. about a possible takeover but it said it had rejected the approach and is not in takeover discussions. The company’s shares were up $11.95, or 15.5%, at $89.

Rival Canadian National Railway was the second-biggest weighted gainer overall, up $3.35, or 5.8%, at $60.65, as it also attracted attention.

The industrials sector leaped 4% on Wednesday.

The energy sector gained 1.75% after data showed a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. gasoline stocks.

The price of crude oil jumped more than a dollar, adding $1.03 to US$75.05 a barrel.

Canadian Natural Resources led the way, advancing $2.87, or 3.9%, to $75.67.

The gold sub-group spiked 4.2% as the price of gold climbed $7.80 to US$673.70 an ounce.

Shares of Barrick Gold rose $1.79, or 5.4%, at $35.24.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index added 14.04 points, or 0.43%, to 3,294.34.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.11 of cent to US95.73¢ after Statistics Canada reported inflation held steady in June at 2.2%.

In New York, U.S. stocks fell on deepening concerns that a crisis in subprime lending could spread and a warning from the Federal Reserve chairman that weakness in housing could hurt economic growth for some time.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 53.33 points, or 0.38%, to end at 13,918.22, a day after it hit an intraday high above the 14,000 milestone.

The 500 was down 3.20 points, or 0.21%, to finish at 1,546.17. The Nasdaq composite index was down 12.80 points, or 0.47%, to close at 2,699.49.