March rally continues as TSX surges on merger news

Stock markets have extended their rally to a third week, with indexes in Toronto and New York racking up strong triple-digit advances amid a major deal in the Canadian oilpatch and another effort to revive U.S. banks.

Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index closed up 452.16 points or 5.3 per cent at 8,958.51. The index is up 18.4 per cent since its trough on March 9, led by a 34 per cent rise in the financial sector.

Energy stocks took off after Suncor Energy and Petro-Canada announced an all-stock combination into a company valued at $43.3 billion US.

New York's Dow Jones industrial average soared 497.48 points or 6.8 per cent to 7,775.86 and the Nasdaq composite index ran ahead 98.5 points to 1,555.77.

The U.S. Treasury Department's bad loan cleanup program could tap money from the U.S. government's $700-billion US financial rescue fund and also involve help from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance and private investors.

The Canadian dollar rose 1.12 cents to 81.8 cents US.