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North American stock markets rallied to start the trading week on hopes of slowing growth of COVID-19 cases in Europe and New York.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 654.40 points or 5.1% to 13,592.70.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 1,627.46 points or 7.7% to 22,679.99. The S&P 500 index was up 175.03 points at 2,663.68, while the Nasdaq composite was up 540.15 points at 7,913.24.

The Canadian dollar traded for US70.79¢ compared with an average of US70.71¢ on Friday.

The May crude contract was down US$2.26 at US$26.08 per barrel and the May natural gas contract was up 11 cents at US$1.73 per mmBTU.

The June gold contract was up US$48.20 at US$1,693.90 an ounce and the May copper contract was up 2.5 cents at US$2.22 a pound.