TORONTO (CP) — North American equity markets rose as energy and mining stocks recovered despite a continuing decline in commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 79 points to close at 13,016.59, adding to a meagre 15-point gain on Wednesday after Canada’s main index tumbled more than 430 points earlier in the week.
New York indexes also rose, following a three-day losing streak.
The Dow Jones added 82.45 points to close at 17,574.75, while the S&P 500 climbed 4.61 points to 2,052.23 and the Nasdaq rose 22.30 points to 5,045.17.
On commodity markets, the January contract for benchmark oil lost 40 cents to US$36.76 a barrel, January natural gas gave back almost five cents to settle at US$2.015 per mmBtu and February gold fell $4.50 to US$1,072.00 an ounce.
Falling oil helped pull the loonie down 0.36 of a cent to 73.36 cents U.S. The Canadian dollar has lost more than a cent and a half in value against the greenback since Dec. 3.
