Toronto stocks moved ahead Tuesday, as strength in the materials and information technology sectors more than offset weakness in the energy group.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 28.85 points, or 0.20%, to 14,262.19. The market was closed yesterday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Half of the 10 TSX main sub-groups finished higher.

Materials gained 1.95%, while the gold sub-index gained 1.08%.

Gold futures finished up $4.60 to close at US$737.40.

Kinross Gold Corp. gained 5¢, or 0.33%, to $15.05.

The energy index retreated 0.72%.

Light, sweet crude gained $1.24, or 1.6%, to US$80.26 a barrel.

Canadian Natural Resources fell back $1.06, or 1.44%, to $72.73.

The information technology group gained 1.46%.

Research in Motion gained $2.05, or 1.84%, to $113.65.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index moved up 14.63 points, or 0.51%, to 2,872.20.

The Canadian dollar gave up 0.07 of a cent to finish at US101.78¢.

In New York, the release of the minutes from the most recent U.S. Federal Reserve meeting showed that there had been unanimous agreement on the need for a rate cut.

The news seemed to raise the likelihood of the Fed lowering rates at its next meeting.

Both the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P500 surged to record highs. The Dow gained 120.80 points, or 0.86%, to 14,164.53 while the S&P500 shot ahead 12.57 points, or 0.81%, to 1,565.15.

The Nasdaq composite index advanced 16.54 points, or 0.59%, to 2,803.91.