Toronto stocks advanced for a third straight session on Monday, powering ahead more than 90 points as energy issues got a lift from higher oil prices.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 90.66 points, or 0.76%, to 11,947.47, surpassing its previous record close of 11,856.81 touched last Friday.

Eight of the 10 main TSX groups advanced, with the energy sector up 1.9%.

U.S. crude oil futures settled 59 cents higher at US$68.35 a barrel, just $2.50 shy of the record high of US$70.85 touched on August 30, as U.S. refiners slowed fuel production due to slumping profit margins and units being shut for maintenance.

EnCana Corp. Shares jumped $2.20, or 4.06%, to $56.40.

The materials group, home to gold-mining shares, added 0.97% as gold gained $6.90 to close at US$570.60 an ounce.

Kinross Gold climbed 33¢, or 2.64%, to $12.83.

Only the health-care and utilities groups fell, losing 0.72% and 0.46% respectively.

Among individual stocks, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. agreed to be bought by Colony Capital and a Canadian firm owned by Kingdom Hotels International.

Kingdom is owned by Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Abdulaziz Alsaud, one of the richest men in the world.

Kingdom and Colony will pay US$45 per share in cash for Fairmont. Their bid is worth US$3.9 billion, including assumed debt. Kingdom already owns just less than 3.9 million Fairmont shares.

Fairmont shares closed up 45¢, or 1.30%, at $44.27.

Rising commodity prices also gave a lift to stocks on the TSX Venture Exchange and the Canadian dollar.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index advanced 25.73 points, or 1.02%, to 2,547.72.

The loonie finished at US87.24¢, up from US86.97¢, at Friday’s close.

On Wall Street, U.S. blue-chip stocks slipped, with financial services shares declining a day before the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates — offsetting Exxon Mobil Corp.’s gain on a record profit.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 7.29 points, or 0.07%, at 10,899.92. But the S&P 500 was up 1.48 points, or 0.12%, at 1,285.20. The Nasdaq composite oindex was up 2.55 points, or 0.11%, at 2,306.78.

The Dow’s loss was limited by shares of Exxon, which climbed 3% to US$63.11 on the NYSE. The world’s biggest publicly traded oil company said quarterly profit topped US$10 billion.