North American stock markets rebounded strongly from Monday’s steep losses on co-ordinated actions by central banks and plans for a US$1 trillion stimulus package by the U.S. government.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 324.81 points or 2.6% at 12,685.21.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 1,048.86 points at 21,237.38. The S&P 500 index was up 143.06 points at 2,529.19, while the Nasdaq composite was up 430.19 points or 6.2% at 7,334.78.
The April gold contract was up US$39.30 at US$1,525.80 an ounce and the May copper contract was down 7.9 cents at US$2.31 a pound.
The April crude contract was down US$1.75 at US$26.95 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was down 8.6 cents at US$1.73 per mmBTU.
The Canadian dollar was down as investors continued to turn to the safety of the U.S. greenback as it traded for 70.55 cents US compared with an average of 71.61 cents US on Monday.