A pause in the surge of rising oil prices sent stock markets sharply higher Tuesday. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 143.74 points, or 1.75%, at 8,354.22.

All of the TSX index’s 10 main groups gained ground, with energy issues up 2.17% and gold issues climbing 3.08%.

Oil was the big story today in more ways than one. Petro-Canada announced it is going to pay $1.15 billion in cash for a 29.9% interest in the British North Sea’s Buzzard oilfield. The oilfield is operated by Canadian energy company, EnCana. Petro-Canada shares surged $1.94 to $61.75 on the news. EnCana rose $1.68 to $56.18. Suncor Energy added 80¢ to $33.20.

The price of bullion rose US$2.70 to US$388.20 an ounce in New York. Barrick Gold rose 89¢ to $28.28. Wheaton River jumped 21¢ to $3.98.

Metals and mining stocks also moved forward with Noranda adding 47¢ to $22.52 and TeckCominco rising 49¢ to $22.79. Inco Ltd. shares increased $1.94 to $43.91 after announcing that it expects to unveil plans to proceed with the New Caledonia Goro mining project as cost estimates have eased.

Toronto tech stocks also moved higher today including Nortel Networks, which added 13¢ to $4.81. Sierra Wireless surged $4.01 to $36.71.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 21.92 points, or 1.39%, to close at 1,602.27.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 159.19 points, or 1.6%, to 10,117.62. The S&P 500 closed up 17.67 points, or 1.61%, at 1,113.08. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 41.67 points, or 2.17%, to 1,964.65.