<p>TORONTO – The Canadian dollar is trading near a nine-month high and stock markets are experiencing a late-morning surge.</p>
<p>The loonie was as high as 78.13 cents US at one point this morning, up 0.60 from Monday’s close.</p>
<p>It’s the first time since last July that Canada’s currency has been above 78 cents US.</p>
<p>At the Toronto Stock Exchange, the S&amp;P/TSX composite index climbed 131.78 points or nearly one per cent, at 13,554.54.</p>
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<p>In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 150.08 points at 17,707.38, the broader S&amp;P 500 composite index advanced 15.01 points to 2,057.00 and the Nasdaq composite added 27.96 points at 4,861.36.</p>
<p>The May crude contract was up 96 cents at US$41.32 per barrel and May natural gas jumped six cents at US$1.98 per mmBTU.</p>
<p>The June gold contract fell $1.80 to US$1,256.20 an ounce and May copper contracts rose four cents to US$2.13 a pound.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.moneysense.ca/news/loonie-hits-nine-month-high-at-78-13-cents-u-s/">Loonie hits nine-month high at 78.13 cents U.S.</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.moneysense.ca/">MoneySense</a>.</p>
