Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, April 9, 2012.BRENDAN MCDERMID
North American stocks rose at the start of trading on Wednesday, rebounding from steep losses the day before as investors fretted over rising Spanish bond yields and worrisome signs from China's economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 88 points or 0.7 per cent, to 12,804. The broader S&P 500 rose 12 points or 0.9 per cent, to 1,370. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index rose 57 points or 0.5 per cent, to 11,992.
If the gains hold until the end of the day, they will snap a five-day losing streak for major North American indexes. The gains come as the European bond market showed tentative signs of settling down, with Spanish bond yields retreating from their highest levels since December.
As well, Alcoa Inc. kicked off the first-quarter earnings season in the United States with results that easily topped analysts' expectations, sending the shares up 7.6 per cent.
In other moves, Bank of America Corp. rose 2.3 per cent, Boeing Co. rose 1.7 per cent and General Electric Co. rose 1.6 per cent.
Among Canadian financials, Royal Bank of Canada rose 0.7 per cent and Manulife Financial Corp. rose 1.2 per cent. Suncor Energy Inc. rose 0.7 per cent after crude oil nudged higher. However, Research In Motion Ltd. fell 2.4 per cent.
David Berman