Toronto stocks rallied for the third straight session Tuesday as resources issues continued to bounce back from the steep losses of last week.

The S&P/TSX composite index soared 302.50 points, or 2.32%, to close at 13,322.22.

Every sector but health care ended the day in positive territory, led by a 4.8% jump in the gold subgroup, a 2.8% rise in the metals and mining group, and a 2.8% climb in energy stocks.

Gold for April delivery jumped US$16.30 to settle at US$934.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile exchange as investors piled back into the precious metal.

Silver, copper, and agricultural commodity futures also rose.

Crude oil for May delivery closed up 36¢, or 0.4%, at US$101.22 a barrel on the Nymex.

Potash Corp gained $5.33 to $159.34; Goldcorp added $2.68 to $40.70; and EnCana rose $1.91 to $75.25.

Financial stocks rose 1.2%.

The tech sector lent its support to the index, rising 2.4%, while Research In Motion added $4.21, or 3.7%, to $118.31.

Nortel Networks was up 33¢, or 5%, at $7 after it said it had won a five-year contract with U.S. Cellular to boost the wireless carrier’s network using Nortel’s CDMA technology.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 47.78 points, or 1.93%, to close at 2,529.53.

The Canadian dollar edged up 0.06¢ to US98.30¢.

In New York, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite index ended higher as rebounding metal and oil prices lifted mining and energy shares, offsetting news of the biggest drop in consumer confidence in five years.

The S&P 500 edged up 3.11 points, or 0.23%, to 1,352.99, while the Nadsaq added 14.30 points, or 0.61%, to 2,341.05

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 16.04 points, or 0.13%, to 12,532.60.