The Toronto stock market surged almost 900 points Tuesday after central banks moved to shore up American banks.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 890.50 points, or 9.82%, at 9,955.66, after plunging 16% last week.

Earlier in the session, the benchmark index had soared more than 1,600 points.

It was the best single-day showing in its history, beating Sept. 9, 2008, when the index gained 848.42 points, or 7.03%, according to the TSX.

The index was closed on Monday for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Crude for November delivery lost $2.56, or 3.2%, to finish at $78.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Among TSX energy producers, Talisman Energy Inc. rose 23.4% and Suncor Energy Inc. rose 11.1%.

Among financials, Royal Bank of Canada rose 14.6% and Bank of Montreal rose 12.5%. Manulife Financial Corp. rose 14.5% after the company reassured investors that its capital resources were more than adequate.

Gold futures ended lower for a fourth straight session. Gold for December delivery closed down $3, or 0.4%, at US$839.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the Nymex.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index shot up 78.89 points, or 8.08%, to end at 1,054.70.

The Canadian dollar rebounded somewhat from last weeks slide. The loonie gained 1.4¢ to finished at US86.09¢.

Fears of a global recession kept stocks in check on Tuesday, though financials benefited from the U.S. government’s latest moves to shore up banks.

The session marked a disappointing followup to Monday, when the Dow leapt 936 points.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 76.62 points, or 0.82%, at 9,310.99. The S&P 500 was down 5.34 points, or 0.53%, at 998.01. The Nasdaq composite index fell 65.24 points, or 3.54%, at 1,779.01.

After markets closed, Intel Corp. reported a third-quarter net income of US$2 billion, or 35¢ a share, compared with net profit of US$1.8 billion, or 30¢ a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was US$10.22 billion, up 1% from US$10.1 billion last year.

IE