The Toronto Stock Exchange surged ahead on Wednesday, gaining more than 2% as energy and resource stocks benefited from a rally in commodity prices.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished at 10,215.46, up 229.31 points, or 2.3%.

Materials stocks led the gains, rising 3% as gold, silver and copper futures ended higher. August gold futures rose US$16.60, or 1.8%, to end at US$939.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since July 1.

The sub-gold index gained 2.4%.

Shares of Goldcorp Inc. rose $1.60, or 4.1%, to $40.32, and Inmet Mining Corp. advanced 5.6% to $41.27.

Mining and metals company First Quantum Minerals Ltd. saw its stock surge $3.45, or 6.3%, to $57.93.

Teck Resources Ltd. shares gained $1.05, or 5.4%, to $20.51.

Also higher was Potash Corp., which rallied 2.6% to $97.98, recovering Tuesday’s losses.

The energy group gained 2.5% on Wednesday as oil futures rose for the first session in four. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August crude futures gained US$2.02, or 3.4%, to end at US$61.54 a barrel. The boost came after U.S. government data showed a larger than expected drop in oil inventory levels last week.

Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. rose $1.16, or 3.7%, to close at $32.61.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. jumped 3% to $59.76 and Talisman Energy Inc. gained 3% to $16.36.

Petro-Canada closed at $41.40, up 3.3%, and units of Canadian Oil Sands Trust soared $1.45, or 5.7%, to $26.72.

Financial stocks also finished higher, gaining 2.6%.

Manulife Financial Corp. surged 5.5% to $21.56 and Sun Life Financial Inc. finished at $31.25, up 3.7%.

CIBC’s stock jumped $2.13, or 3.6%, to end at $62.15.

Also higher was Power Corp., up 4.4% to $26.87, and Bank of Nova Scotia, up 2.8% to $43.31.

Shares of Corus Entertainment Inc. retreated 2% after the specialty television and radio company reported a third-quarter net loss of $145 million, disappointing analysts. Corus shares closed at $13.46.

Junior stocks on the TSX Venture Exchange closed with hefty gains on Wednesday. The S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed at 1,082.55, up 27.16 points, or 2.6%.

Canadian dollar advanced by more than a cent for a second consecutive day, and touched its highest level in a month on Wednesday. It finished at US89.74¢, up US1.71¢.

In New York, U.S. stocks also enjoyed strong gains on Wednesday, including a rally in technology stocks and blue-chip financials.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 256.72 points, or 3.1%, to end at 8,616.21. It was the Dow’s biggest one-day point gain since March 23.

The S&P 500 index rose 26.84 points, or 3%, to 932.68.

The Nasdaq composite index soared 63.17 points, or 3.5%, to 1,862.90.

IE