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North American markets ended up with a late-day surge as investors looked to optimistic signals in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, while the loonie rose against the U.S. dollar.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 460.56 points at 14,359.88 as energy and finance stocks rebounded from a day earlier.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 704.81 points at 24,242.49. The S&P 500 index was up 75.01 points at 2,874.56, while the Nasdaq composite was up 117.78 points at 8,650.14.

The Canadian dollar traded for US71.24¢ compared with an average of US70.81¢ on Thursday.

The June crude contract ended down 50¢ at US$25.03 per barrel and the May natural gas contract was up 6.7¢ at slightly less than US$1.75 mmBTU.

The June gold contract closed down US$32.90 at US$1,698.80 an ounce and the May copper contract was up 5.4¢ at US$2.35 a pound.