Mining and financial issues pushed Toronto stocks higher Monday. The S&P/TSX composite index overcame early losses to close up 92.08 points, or 0.71%, at 12,986.91.

Six of the 10 main TSX groups made gains.

The materials group was a big market mover today, rising 2.11%, while the gold sub-group gained 1.74%.

Gold futures hit an intraday high of US$929.80 an ounce on the Nymex, passing Friday‚s record of US$924.30. The February contract surged $16.40, or 1.8%, to close at $927.10 an ounce.

Diversified metals also made gains, rising 0.83%.

Eastern Platinum saw a day of heavy trading (15,304,522 shares) and gained 5¢, or 1.75%, closing at $2.91.

The heavyweight financials group gained 0.89%.

CIBC shares rose 89¢, or 1.32%, to close at $68.13, while Manulife Financial gained 37¢, or 1%, and closed at $37.38.

The energy group gained 0.51%.

Talisman Energy Inc. shares lost 5¢, or 0.30%, closing at $16.39, after it announced its purchase of a small portion of an Indonesian liquefied natural gas project for US$212.5 million.

Crude-oil futures erased earlier losses and rose for a third session, as rate-cut expectations pushed the dollar downward. Crude for March delivery ended up 28¢, or 0.3%, to US$90.99 on Nymex.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed up, gaining 3.74 points, or .15%, to end the day at 2,557.80.

The Canadian dollar closed out at US$99.56, up 0.26 of a cent from Friday’s close.

In New York, markets were buoyed by high expectations that the Federal Reserve will slash rates this week.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 176.72 points, or 1.45%, to 12,383.89.

The S&P 500 gained 23.35 points, or 1.75%, ending at 1,353.96.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 23.71 points, or 1.02%, to 2,349.91.