The TSE 300 index recovered late in the session on Monday, coming within striking distance of a break-even point on the day, as weakened bank stocks shed some of their losses, helped along by strong gains in metals and biotech stocks.

Overall Canada’s main exchange ended down 5.76 points, at 6905.05, as cautious investors braced for continued earnings reports, but tried to take inspiration from strong U.S. market performances.

Market volume was strong with 87.6 million shares trading, but decliners outdid advancers at 518 to 487, respectively.

Overall, 10 of the TSE 300 subgroups made gains during the session, as continued uneasiness about bio-terrorism attacks put wind in the sails of biotech stocks, helping the consumer products group gain 1.95%.

Individually, pharmaceutical Biovail Corp., advanced $2.00, or 2.7%, to $77.00, closing near an all-time high, and anti-blindness drug manufacturer QLT Inc. continued its strong performance from Friday, advancing $2.54, or 6.8%, $40.00. QLT shares have risen 70% since Oct. 2.

Metals and minerals also performed well, plowing ahead 3.29% on the strength of Alcan Inc. Shares in the aluminum giant, which makes up almost 2.5% of the TSE, rose $2.49, or 5.2%, closing at $49.99.

An expected Bank of Canada rate cut of 50 basis points could take some pressure off the banks on Tuesday, though some analysts said the effect was already factored in.

The TSE’s largest stock, Royal Bank of Canada, fell 3.3% during the session, down $1.64, at $45.40, after raising its provision for credit losses by 80% to $425 million.

Other banks followed the trend, as Bank of Montreal dove $1.61, or 4.4%, to $35.37, and CIBC slipped 2.4%, or $1.19, to $48.85.

On the CDNX today volume hit 25.9 million shares with 170 issuers declining against 157 making advancements.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 172.92 points, or 1.8%, to 9,377.03. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 16.42 points, or 1.53%, to 1,089.90.

The Nasdaq rose for the third straight session, gaining 36.78 points, or 2.20%, to 1,708.09. Among the tech gainers, Applied Materials jumped $2.22 to $34.77.

About 1.1 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, while 1.5 billion traded on Nasdaq.