Toronto equities enjoyed a second consecutive day of gains on Wednesday, led by a rally in materials stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index added 130.61 points, or 1.7%, to close at 8,011.02.

The materials group surged 5.1% on Wednesday, after two days of declines.

The sub-gold index soared 6% as gold futures advanced. Gold for April delivery ended up US$14.80, or 1.7%, at US$910.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares of Barrick Gold Corp. rose a sharp $2.04, or 6.1%, to $35.34 and Kinross Gold Inc. advanced 7% to $19.72.

Shares of Yamana Gold Inc. soared 7.6% to $10.46 and Goldcorp Inc. moved higher by $2.01, or 5.9%, to $36.00.

Also sharply higher were Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., up $4.34, or 7.3%, to $63.50, and Agrium Inc., up 6.5% to $47.73.

Financial stocks advanced 2.2% on Wednesday.

Bank of Montreal shares rose 1.3% to $30.10 after it announced a preferred share issue to raise $200 million.

Manulife Financial Corp. advanced 3.2% to $11.23, while shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 3.3% to $39.76.

Also higher were shares of CIBC, up 2% to $41.92.

Meanwhile, the energy group retreated 0.4% on Wednesday as oil futures fell sharply. Crude for April delivery ended down US$3.38, or 7.4%, at US$42.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. slid $1.11, or 2.4%, to end at $44.89.

Talisman Energy Inc. saw its shares dip 1.9% to $12.27 and Husky Energy Inc. fell 2.2% to $26.60.

Higher for the day was Petro-Canada, up $0.92, or 3.3%, to $28.81.

Gains among junior companies pushed the Venture composite index higher by 5.35 points, or 0.7%, to close at 823.90.

The Canadian dollar gave up 0.06¢ to close at US77.75¢.

In New York, U.S. stocks also rose for a second day on Wednesday, but failed to maintain the momentum of Tuesday’s rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 3.91 points, or 0.1%, to close at 6,930.4.

The S&P 500 index climbed 1.76 points, or 0.2%, to 721.36.

The Nasdaq composite index advanced 13.36 points, or 1%, to finish at 1,371.64.