Canadian dollar up more than a penny after uptick in oil prices

North American stocks were recovering from Monday's losses on Tuesday, after oil ticked upward overnight on hopes that the oversupply might fade by year's end.

The Canadian dollar rose more than a cent to 70.99 cents US at the close of trading.

​The West Texas Intermediate oil contract, which had fallen below $30 on Monday, was up 5.8 per cent in North American trading. It sank back later in the day but was still up 90 cents to $31.24 US a barrel.

Brent, the main international contract, rose $1.06 to $31.57.

Oil was buoyant throughout the day as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries made renewed calls for rival producers to cut supply alongside its members.

Abdullah al-Badri, OPEC's secretary general, said the cartel is ready to negotiate with rivals to get prices to rise again, expressing concern that new capital investment in oil is so low there may be shortages in future.

Saudis expect higher crude prices

Aramco's CEO Amin Nasser said the Saudi oil giant, which is contemplating a public listing, expects higher prices by the end of this year as the gap between supply and demand is shrinking.

That's because cheaper oil has forced non-OPEC producers, including Canada and the U.S., to reduce production, while global demand is rising.

Rising oil helped push Toronto stocks higher, with the TSX up 188 points to 12,331 at the close.

The Dow was up 282 points to 16,167, wiping out yesterday's losses. U.S. investors were reacting to strong corporate earnings from 3M and Procter & Gamble and hopes that the U.S. central bank would be patient in its plan to raise rates further.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is meeting today and tomorrow, its first review of the economy since deciding to raise rates in December.

After sharp losses earlier in the session, stocks in France, London and Germany were up and the Euro Stoxx index gained 31 points to 3032.

• Oil slides below $30 US as Iraq ramps up production
• Doubts about China numbers would mean growth less than Canada's: Don Pittis
• China's 2015 GDP growth at 25-year low of 6.9%

"Indices once again tracking the moves in oil. It's been another volatile session for oil, with both WTI and Brent crude trading back below $30 earlier only to recover to trade higher," OANDA analyst Craig Erlam said. "Despite the rally towards the back end of last week, there is clearly still a desire to push prices back to their lows and it will be interesting to see how successful they are today."

Global stocks have had a rocky start to 2016 due to concerns over slowing growth in China and plunging crude prices, and with investors struggling to find safe haven investments.

Investors ignored the downturn overnight in China, where the Shanghai index fell 6.4 per cent in another wave of panic selling. Japan and Hong Kong moved lower and there was fresh news of a crackdown on corruption in China, this time at the National Bureau of Statistics.