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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Nov. 16, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Canadian stocks rose Monday for the first time in nine sessions, on the way to snapping the worst stretch since before the financial crisis, as commodities rallied amid heightened tension after France bombed Syria in response to terrorist attacks in Paris.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 242.1 points, or 1.85 per cent, to 13,317.52 in Toronto led by gains in heavyweight banking and energy stocks, as oil prices edged higher on heightened tensions after Friday's attacks. The benchmark equity gauge has lost 10 per cent this year, trailing only Singapore and Greece among developed markets.

The S&P/TSX lost 4.6 per cent in the previous eight trading sessions for the longest losing streak since June 2002. Natural-resource producers slumped more than 5 per cent over that period as the Bloomberg Commodity Index tracking prices from copper to crude fell to a 1999 low.

Canadian equities have been among the worst-performing in the world this year, led by declines in natural-resource and health-care stocks. The country's equity market has been hampered by a slump in oil prices, slowing overseas growth and the prospect of an interest-rate increase from the Federal Reserve.

The S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index rose 4.31 per cent as Suncor Energy Inc. added 3.76 per cent and TransCanada Corp. rose 3.1 per cent. Barrick Gold Corp. rose 1.19 per cent and Yamana Gold Inc. climbed 4.51 per cent as the S&P Capped Materials Index increased 0.63 per cent. Gold rose from last week's six-year low.

Warplanes bombed Islamic State's nerve centre in Raqqa after France said Europe's worst terror attack in a decade was directed from Syria, which borders OPEC producer Iraq. Crude has plunged about 46 per cent in the past year amid signs oversupply will persist.

Europe is on high alert after at least 129 people were killed in more than half a dozen locations in the French capital. The massacre comes less than a year after the attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

The most influential gainers on the index included Bank of Nova Scotia, which rose 1.88 per cent, and Bank of Montreal, which added 1.91 per cent.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. lost 2.73 per cent, trading near a two-year low. Valeant, briefly the largest stock in Canada by market capitalization this year, has lost more than 70 per cent from an Aug. 5 high amid pressure over how it prices its drugs.

Among other influential weights was First Quantum Minerals Ltd, which declined 4.6 per cent.

DHX Media Ltd., a media entertainment producer, jumped 3.47 per cent for the biggest increase in seven weeks after reporting first-quarter profit and revenue ahead of analysts' estimates. Of the more than 200 companies in the S&P/TSX to report in the current period, about 60 per cent missed revenue estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

U.S. stocks also rebounded after their worst week since an August selloff, paced by energy shares amid speculation that any fallout from Friday's attacks in Paris would have a limited economic impact.

Last week's hardest-hit group led the rally, an echo of the snapback from the summer selloff, as Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. gained more than 3.5 per cent. Procter & Gamble Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. led a surge among consumer staples, rising at least 1.8 per cent. Defence companies drove gains among industrials, and Apple Inc. snapped a five-day losing streak.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.5 per cent to 2,053.12 in New York, after sinking 1.1 per cent Friday to a three-week low. The gauge rose back above its average price during the past 100 days.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 237.31 points, or 1.38 per cent, to 17,482.55, while the Nasdaq Composite added 56.73 points, or 1.15 per cent, to 4,984.62.

"We had a pretty sizable loss over the last two weeks and just because of that we may not be seeing as much as a negative reaction as we could have if the tragedy occurred two weeks ago when the market was up within one per cent of the highs," said Frank Cappelleri, a market technician at Instinet LLC in New York. "Today at least, knowing where the market has come from, it's helped it at least to be stable."

The S&P 500 on Friday capped its worst weekly drop since August, snapping six straight weeks of gains amid mounting expectations that the Federal Reserve is preparing to raise interest rates as soon as December. Retailer and apparel companies tumbled after weaker-than-forecast earnings and sales data, posting their worst week in four years. Energy shares jumped Monday after their biggest weekly retreat since August with crude-oil recovering from its lowest level in more than two months.

The main U.S. equity benchmark index is now 3.7 per cent away from its record set in May, after rising to within 1 per cent of the all-time high on Nov. 3. The S&P 500 had fallen in seven of the previous eight sessions after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said policy makers' December meeting was a "live possibility" for a rate increase.

Traders are pricing in a 66-per-cent probability that the Fed will raise rates next month. Investors will assess data this week on consumer prices, factory activity and housing starts for further clues on the probability of a boost in rates. Minutes from the central bank's October policy meeting will be released on Wednesday. A reading Monday on New York area manufacturing activity in November contracted more than expected, according to estimates from economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

"This is going to be a market driven by U.S. economic data," said Stephen Wood, who helps manage $265 billion as chief market strategist for North America at Russell Investments in New York. "I think the market is still keeping it's gaze on a December Fed decision."

All of the S&P 500's 10 main industries advanced Monday, with energy, phone companies and consumer staples rising more than 1.6 per cent.

Oil rebounded in New York after failing to drop below $40 a barrel as France dropped bombs on Syria, heightening tensions in Europe and the Middle East in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris.

West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 2.5 per cent after touching $40.06, the least since August when prices tumbled to a six-year low. French President Francois Hollande vowed to boost security spending, limit constitutional protections and win a war against Islamic terrorism. Warplanes bombed Islamic State's nerve centre in Raqqa after France said Europe's worst terror attack in a decade was directed from Syria.

"The speculators are trying to call a bottom," Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA in New York, said. "When the selling dried up the speculators jumped back in."

Crude has slid 45 per cent in the past year amid signs the global glut will persist as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries continues to pump above its collective quota and Russian production climbs to post-Soviet highs. Oil stockpiles have expanded to a record of almost 3 billion barrels because of strong production in OPEC and elsewhere, the International Energy Agency said Nov. 13.

WTI for December delivery rose $1 to settle at $41.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the biggest gain since Nov. 3. Futures dropped 8 per cent last week. The volume of all futures traded was 63 per cent above the 100-day average at 2:52 p.m.

Brent for January settlement increased 9 cents to end the session at $44.56 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe. The December contract expired Friday after falling 1 per cent to $43.61. The European benchmark oil closed at a $1.77 premium to January WTI futures.

With files from Reuters

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