By Emily Bowers
TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto stocks closed higher on Wednesday for the first time in eight sessions, propped up by rebounding commodity issues, while tech shares added to the positive sentiment after bellwether Nortel Networks set a date for its annual meeting.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index gained 88.84 points, or 0.95 percent, to finish at 9,484.26. Eight of the 10 main subindexes ended higher.
Natural resources issues helped the market turn around after seven straight losing sessions, sparked by fears that prices for those commodities had peaked.
"The commodities have been hit hard the last four days or so," said John Kinsey, a portfolio manager at Caldwell Securities Ltd. in Toronto. "What we're seeing here is a rebound from oversold positions."
The mining-heavy materials group gained 2.13 percent with Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. among the leaders after it announced an alliance with Mitsui & Co. to build mines and infrastructure in Mongolia. Its shares added 45 Canadian cents, or 5.39 percent, to C$8.80.
Fertilizer producer Potash Corp. jumped C$5.16, or 5.13 percent, after an analyst's upgrade to finish at C$105.78, making it the market's top net gainer.
Nickel miner Falconbridge added C$1.11, or 2.68 percent, to C$42.48.
Technology shares rose 3.15 percent after Nortel Networks Corp. set June 29 as the date for its annual meeting after a long delay as the company sorted out accounting problems.
"It looks like they're getting their house in order. It's been a long, slow process, but it looks like they're getting it together," Kinsey said.
Nortel shares were among the index's most actively traded, finishing 9 Canadian cents, or 2.7 percent, higher at C$3.42.
Cognos Inc. gained C$2.10, or 4.21 percent, to C$51.93 after a newspaper report said the software maker planned to boost staff by 50 percent over the next three years.
Health care issues fell 1.36 percent, weighed down by Biovail Corp. after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it wants more data on the company's once-daily version of pain killer Tramadol. Biovail, Canada's largest publicly traded drugmaker, lost C$2.05, or 9.93 percent, to C$18.60.
Market momentum was positive as 714 advancers countered 663 decliners. Volume was nearly 255 million shares worth C$4.5 billion.
The blue-chip TSX 60 index gained 5.64 points, or 1.08 percent, to finish at C$525.98, helped by a 0.58 percent gain in heavyweight financial issues.
New York markets staged their biggest rally in nearly four months, as the Dow Jones industrial average soared 135.23 points, or 1.3 percent, to 10,540.93.
The Nasdaq composite index gained 31.79 points, or 1.61 percent, to 2,005.67.
($1=$1.22 Canadian)
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