North American stock markets recovered from last week’s selloff even though fear of weaker Chinese economic demand pushed crude oil into bear market territory.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 61.27 points at 17,379.76.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 143.78 points at 28,399.81. The S&P 500 index was up 23.40 points at 3,248.92, while the Nasdaq composite was up 122.46 points at 9,273.40.

The Canadian dollar traded for US75.33¢ compared with an average of US75.57¢ on Friday.

The March crude contract was down US$1.45 at US$50.11 per barrel and the March natural gas contract was down US2.2¢ at US$1.82 per mmBTU.

The April gold contract was down US$5.50 at US$1,582.40 an ounce and the March copper contract was down one cent at US$2.51 a pound.