TORONTO _ North American stock markets opened higher following a decision by China's central bank to boost that country's economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 22.17 points to trade for 15,382.72. The Canadian dollar was down 0.08 of a U.S. cent at 81.70 cents.
U.S. stocks also opened higher as more big companies turn in healthy financial results for the first quarter of the year.
Hasbro jumped 8 per cent in early trading Monday after turning in a strong quarterly report card following big sales of Transformers and other toys aimed at boys.
Morgan Stanley rose 1 per cent after a gain in trading revenue helped the bank beat analysts' profit forecasts.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 200 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 18,022 as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 16 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 2,097. The Nasdaq composite climbed 28 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 4,959.
The increase on the stock market followed a move by China's central bank to cut the required reserve ratio for banks by one percentage point on Sunday to stimulate lending.
China's economy grew by seven per cent in the first quarter of the year, the lowest quarterly expansion since the 2008 financial crisis.
In the U.S., the Dow industrials gained 177.27 points to trade for 18,003.57, while the Nasdaq climbed 30.11 points to 4,961.93. The S&P 500 index added 15.46 to reach 2,096.64.
On the commodity markets, the May crude contract down 27 cents at US$55.47 a barrel, while the June gold contract was down US$7.50 at US$1,195.60.