Price of oil surges more than 3%, pushes up Toronto’s main stock index

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index rose on the strength of the energy sector today as the price of oil surged more than three per cent following America’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 68.10 points to 15,910.81, with shares in the energy sector being among the top three performers of the day.

The June crude contract rose US$2.08 or 3.01 per cent to US$71.14 per barrel.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 182.33 points to 24,542.54. The S&P 500 index advanced 25.87 points to 2,697.79 and the Nasdaq composite index moved up 73.01 points to 7,339.91.

The Canadian dollar was trading at 77.78 cents US, up 0.64 of a U.S. cent.

Elsewhere in commodities, June natural gas contract gained about a penny to roughly US$2.74 per mmBTU. The June gold contract shed 70 cents to US$1,313.00 an ounce and the July copper contract was relatively unchanged at about US$3.06 a pound.