Toronto Stock Exchange up in early trading, loonie gains value

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TORONTO – The Canadian dollar and equity indexes were higher shortly after North American stock markets opened Tuesday.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 120.15 points at 13,672.35. The market soared 212.46 points on Monday, bolstered by higher oil and base metals prices.

The Dow Jones average of 30 stocks rose 82.34 points at 16,858.77, the broader S&P 500 index rose 3.86 points to 1,990.91 and the Nasdaq index rose 0.06 point to 4,781.32.

The loonie was up 0.11 of a cent at 76.52 cents US. It had been down before markets opened.

On the commodity markets, the December gold contract rose $6 to US$1,143.60 an ounce, the November crude contract was up $1.01 at US$47.27 a barrel and the November contract for natural gas was at US$2.45, unchanged from Monday.