North American stock markets rallied in the aftermath of interest rate cuts on both sides of the border and a strong primary night for former U.S. vice president Joe Biden.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 355.91 points at 16,779.53.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 1,173.45 points or 4.5% at 27,090.86. The S&P 500 index was up 126.75 points at 3,130.12, while the Nasdaq composite was up 334.00 points at 9,018.09.

The Canadian dollar traded for US74.67¢ compared with an average of US74.83¢ on Tuesday in the wake of a decision by the Bank of Canada to cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point to address worries about the economic impact of the new coronavirus.

The April crude contract was down US40¢ at US$46.78 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was up US2.7¢ at US$1.83 per mmBTU.

The April gold contract was down US$1.40 at US$1,643.00 an ounce and the May copper contract was up US1.3¢ at US$2.59 a pound.