The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market ended Wednesday higher as metal prices got a boost and the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, as expected.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 96.02 points to 11,637.04, driven by commodities.

The gold sector was on the rise, climbing 1.5%, as the February bullion contract lifted $13.20 to close at US$1,136.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The dollar pared an early slide against most major currencies after the Fed said it would begin to wrap up some of its emergency measures.

TSX energy stocks rose 1.5% as the January crude contract moved up $1.97 to US$72.66 a barrel on the Nymex.

The Canadian dollar ended ahead 0.08 of a cent to US94.30¢.

The U.S. Fed said it will end extraordinary supports for the economy in the coming year. The timeline was laid out after the central bank left interest rates near zero, as expected, but also said that weakness in the job market is “abating.”

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials lost 10.88 points to 10,441.12. The Nasdaq composite index was up 5.86 points to 2,206.91, while the S&P 500 index increased 1.25 points to 1,109.18.

“Perhaps as there’s more confidence in the global economic recovery, that would put a little more downward pressure on the U.S. dollar given the fundamentals that support it,” said Philip Petursson, director of institutional equities at MFC Global Investment Management.

“We can definitely see gold higher from these levels we are today, but over the near term it’ll probably bounce around a little bit.”

Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales advanced 2% in October to $42.5 billion, their fourth increase in five months.

In the U.S., the Commerce Department said construction of new homes rebounded in November, helped by better weather. Construction of new homes and apartments rose 8.9% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 574,000 units. While the increase was slightly lower than economists had expected, the gain represents strength in all areas of the country.

The U.S. government also reported that consumer prices excluding food and energy were flat in November, signalling that inflation isn’t working its way into the economy. It was the first time that “core” inflation was unchanged after 10 monthly increases.

On the TSX, info tech stocks rose 2.4% as CGI Group Inc. (TSX:GIB.A) shares rose 4% to $14.63, a day after the company announced $1.1 billion worth of deals with North American financial institutions during the fourth quarter.

The TSX Venture Exchange rose 17.74 to 1,439.79.

In corporate developments, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sued Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), looking to block tactics it says the world’s biggest chipmaker has used to snuff out competition.

The FTC said Intel, which makes the microprocessors that run personal computers, has shut rivals out of the marketplace. In the process, the FTC says Intel has deprived consumers of choice and stifled innovation in the chip industry. Intel shares were down 42¢ at US$19.38 on the Nasdaq.

In Canada, fertilizer producer Agrium Inc. (TSX:AGU) says its minority-owned nitrogen plant in Egypt has secured more than US$1 billion in financing from local banks to help pay for an expansion. Shares rose 16¢ to $66.11.

Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSX:CPG) says it’s acquiring property from Penn West Energy Trust (TSX:PWT.UN) with a land swap and C$434 million in cash. Crescent shares were down 22¢ to $39.16 while Penn units rose 28¢ to $18.64.

Precision Drilling Trust (TSX:PD.UN) is getting ready to take dozens of its rigs out service, leading Canada’s biggest oilfield services firm to warn it will take a charge against its fourth-quarter earnings. Its units were up 8¢ to $7.46.

Coastal Contacts Inc. (TSX:COA) shares backed off 6¢ to $1.50, after the direct-to-consumer vision products provider returned to profitability in fiscal 2009 posting $2.7 million in profits, against a year-ago loss of $786,000.

Shares in Finning International Inc. (TSX:FTT) slipped 29¢ to $15.90 after the company projected that its revenues would be down slightly in 2010 while earnings for the new year are forecast to see a modest increase.