At the open: Lehman hurdle gone

North American stocks rose at the start of trading on Tuesday, as investors cheered earnings and Toronto-Dominion Bank's latest foray into the U.S. market.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 33 points or 0.3 per cent, to 11,511. The broader S&P 500 rose 5 points or 0.4 per cent, to 1252. The index has now fully recovered from the two-year dip that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index rose 86 points or 0.7 per cent.

Financials were particularly strong in early trading. Among U.S. stocks, JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 1.3 per cent and Bank of America Corp. rose 1.2 per cent.

In Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 2.9 per cent after it agreed to pay $6.3-billion (U.S.) for Chrysler Financial. And, although investors were initially concerned about last week's move by Bank of Montreal to buy Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for $4.1-billion, BMO shares also bounced, rising 1.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, Adobe Systems Inc. rose 6.3 per cent after the technology company reported better-than-expected quarterly results after markets closed on Monday.