Toronto stocks closed higher on Monday lifted by renewed strength in tech and gold issues. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 12.54 points to close at 7,445.62.

The technology sector advanced 2.13%, led by a 4% jump In Nortel Networks shares. Nortel gained 23¢ to finish at $5.77

Zarlink Semiconductor jumped 24¢ to close at $5.44.

Gold stock also rebounded, gaining 0.91% after falling 4.43% on Friday. Placer Dome rose 32¢ to $18.17 and Barrick Gold added 5¢ to close at $25.31.

The heavily weighted financial services sector slipped 0.7%.

Kingsway Financial Services led the decline, falling $1.78 or 12% to $13.03. On Friday, the specialty insurer said it is taking a $20 million charge against third quarter earnings and another $20 million charge against its six-month results, after reviewing unpaid claims. It is also scrapping a planned acquisition, and delaying a proposed offering of trust preferred securities.

Shares of Manulife Financial fell $1.44, or 3.5%, to $39.41 as investors digested news that it plans to buy U.S. life insurer John Hancock Financial Services Inc., making Manulife the biggest insurer in Canada and the second largest in North America.

Investors Group and Sun Life Financial also weighed down the sector, each falling about 2%.

Toronto volume was about 230 million shares worth $2.83 billion. Market momentum was negative with decliners outpacing advancers 629 to 554.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose just 0.10 of a point to close at 1,383.28.

On Wall Street, stocks rebound from last week’s losses.

Technology shares took the lead as the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index advanced 32.49 points to 1,824.56.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average gained 67.16 points, or to 9,380.24. The broader S&P 500 index rose 9.73 points to 1,006.58.