Stocks surged on Wednesday, spurred by a promised economic stimulus package from U.S. President Bush, and positive earnings guidance from tech bellwether Cisco Systems.

Bush told business leaders the package would include between US$60 billion and US$75 billion in business and individual tax cuts.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index enjoyed its loftiest advance in nearly six months. It surged nearly 6%, adding 88.48 points to 1,580.81. The S&P 500 climbed 20.95 to 1,072.28, while the Dow Jones industrial average soared 173.19 points to 9,123.78.

On Bay Street, the gains were more modest. The TSE 300 rose 64.88 points to 6,903.78.

Overall, eight of the TSE 300’s 14 sub-indices posted gains, with the tech-heavy industrial products sub-index climbing 2.4%. The transportation sup-index surged more than 4%.

The session’s biggest losers were gold stocks. The gold sub-index fell 3.4%.

Today’s volume was 172 million shares. Market breadth was positive, with advances outpacing declines 533 to 448.

Nortel Networks got a strong boost from the Cisco announcement. After sliding about 5% at the start of the day, Nortel moved higher by almost 5% to $8.74. Over 26 million shares changed hands.

Strength in Canadian National Railway and WestJet Airlines drove the gains in transportation. CN rose $1.97, or 3.5%, to $59. WestJet rocketed nearly 10%, or $1.65, to $19.

WestJet’s competitor, Air Canada, saw its stock fall another 37¢ to $2.48.

Financial services share rose 1.4% in the wake of Tuesday interest rate cuts in the United States.

Bank of Nova Scotia advanced $1.39, or 3%, to $47.99, while CIBC gained $1.35, or 2.6%, to $53.10.

Trading was active on the Canadian Venture Exchange. Volume reached 30.5 million shares, with 176 advances, 149 declines and 543 issues unchanged. The CDNX Index closed up 4.21 points at 2,831.51