A stronger than expected U.S. retail sales report sparked a rally on both sides of the border Tuesday.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 55.51 points to 7,716.91.

Overall, nine of the 13 industry groups on the TSX advanced, led by a 4.89% increase in the information technology group.

Nortel jumped more than 5%, up 22¢ to $4.25. Other big tech winners included Celestica, up $2.70 to $48.50 and ATI Technologies, up $1.07 to $14.47.

Gold stocks fell 5.74% as gold fell US$3.30 an ounce to US$307.60. Barrick slipped $1.43 to $32.57. Placer Dome fell $1.08 to $19.10.

The energy climbed 1.38% as the price of crude oil rose again. EnCana gained 79¢ to $48.89.

BCE Emergis gained 14¢ to $9.90 on news that the company had replaced its CEO.

Ballard Power rose $1.06 to $37.50 after it got a $2 million contract from Nissan.

Toronto volume was 191.6 million shares as advancers beat decliners 619 to 480, with 215 unchanged.

The junior TSX Venture Exchange lost 8.07 points to 1,159.22.

In New York, markets soared thanks to the surprising April retail sales report and better-than-expected results from retailer Wal-Mart.

U.S. retail sales grew 1.2% in April, the biggest gain since last October.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared 188.48 points to 10,298.14. The Nasdaq composite index added 66.51 points to 1,719.05. The S&P 500 added 22.81 points to 1,096.31.

In the face of an improving U.S. economy, the Canadian dollar slipped US0.13¢ to US64.16¢.