Skip to main content

Stocks surged on Monday, marking the third day of the rebound following last week's dramatic selloff, with energy stocks leading the way.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 12,036.53, up 178.01 points or 1.5 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 1298.38, up 19.18 points or 1.5 per cent. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 14,013.70, up 224.07 points or 1.6 per cent.

With the rebounds, the TSX is now higher than it was before the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, raising anxiety levels about the impact on the Japanese and global economies. The S&P 500 is a mere half percentage point below its pre-earthquake level. Both indexes fell sharply last week during a dramatic three-day selloff.

Commodity producers - and particularly energy stocks - fuelled many of the gains on Monday, after commodity prices moved higher on renewed confidence about the global economy. Among U.S. stocks, Alcoa Inc. rose 2.7 per cent, Caterpillar Inc. rose 2.4 per cent and Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 2.5 per cent. In Canada, Suncor Energy Inc. rose 3.6 per cent, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. rose 1.9 per cent and Barrick Gold Corp. rose 0.9 per cent.

Uranium producers, which had been hit hard last week over concerns about Japan's nuclear crisis, made a strong comeback, with Cameco Co. up 7.4 per cent and Uranium One up 14 per cent.

Meanwhile, AT&T Inc. rose 1.2 per cent after it announced a $39-billion (U.S.) deal to buy Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA, making it the biggest wireless provider in the United States. Verizon Communications Inc. also benefited from the announcement, rising 1.7 per cent.

However, smaller Sprint Nextel was cast aside by investors amid fears that it will be struggle to compete against the new behemoth. Sprint shares fell 13.6 per cent.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe