TORONTO - North American stock markets surged higher in early trading in the wake of a move by the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to offset impact of the novel coronavirus.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 181.41 points at 16,734.67.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 180.77 points at 26,884.09. The S&P 500 index was up 26.03 points at 3,116.26, while the Nasdaq composite was up 67.56 points at 9,019.73.
The Canadian dollar traded for 75.01 cents US compared with an average of 74.87 cents US on Monday.
The April crude contract was up 73 cents at US$47.48 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was up 6.8 cents at US$1.824 per mmBTU.
The April gold contract was up US$12.50 at US$1,607.30 an ounce and the May copper contract was down 3.05 cents at US$2.5645 pound.
