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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Canada's TSX Composite index closed higher Wednesday but gave back much of its early gains, dragged into a late-day slide in U.S. stocks.

A surge in gold prices to record highs underpinned the advance, while auto-parts maker Magna International Inc.'s shares rallied 10%.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended 45 points, or 0.4%, higher at 11,071 after vaulting more than 160 points earlier. Mining and consumer shares led advancers, while health care, tech and financial stumbled.

Barrick Gold Corp.'s Canadian shares gained 3.4%, Kinross Gold Corp. shares advanced 3.8% and base metals miner Teck Resources Ltd. gained 1.5%.

Goldcorp. Inc. and Agnico-Eagle Mines shares sat out the rally.

Gold powered to new records of more than $1,090 an ounce, helped by a decline in the U.S. dollar as investors bet the Federal Reserve would reiterate plans to keep rates low for an extended period. Copper and other metals prices also advanced. See Metals Stocks.

Magna International Inc.'s Canadian shares rallied after General Motors said it planned to retain its Opel European car brand, dropping a prior plan to sell a majority stake in its European operations to Magna and Russia's Sberbank. Magna isn't a member of the composite index. See full story.

But the broader TSX index got caught up in a late-day sell-off on Wall Street. Major U.S. indexes posted solid gains through most of the session, sustaining advances after the Fed backed an extended period of low rates, but suffered from a wave of selling in the last half hour.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 30 points to 9,802.

The Canadian dollar advanced against the U.S. dollar. One U.S. dollar bought C$1.0621, down about 0.5% from the previous day.

Wednesday's advanced on the TSX extended gains of 148 points posted Tuesday as gold prices headed higher.