North American stock markets up on positive signals about trade deal with China

S&P/TSX composite index closed up 32.06 points

Investors shrugged off the third presidential impeachment in U.S. history to push North American stock markets to record territory on positive signals about the trade deal with China.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 32.06 points at 17,064.00.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 137.68 points at 28,376.96. The S&P 500 index was up 14.23 points at 3,205.37, while the Nasdaq composite was up 59.49 points at 8,887.22.

The Canadian dollar traded for US76.21¢ compared with an average of US76.23¢ on Wednesday.

The February crude contract was up US33¢ at US$61.18 per barrel and the January natural gas contract was down US1.3¢ at US$2.27 per mmBTU.

The February gold contract was up US$5.70 at US$1,484.40 an ounce and the March copper contract was up 1.4 cents at US$2.83 a pound.