Bay Street Ends January On A Roll, TSX Up 220 Points -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks rallied again Friday, ending a turbulent month on a happy note thanks to rebounding energy and mining shares.

Markets around the globe cheered the Bank of Japan's surprise stimulus measures.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index soared 223.44 points, or 1.7 percent, to 12,815, as gaugues of all sectors were in the green. The index moved further from January's 3-year lows.

Commodity prices have risen from the depths over the past week or so, taking resource stocks along for the ride.

The Energy Index was up 1 percent, the Gold Index was up 2.5 percent and the Diversified Metals and Mining Index jumped 7.5 percent.

March West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $33.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 40 cents, or 1.2% for the session.

Front-month oil futures were down 9% in January, at one point plunging to a 12-year low near $28.

Due to faulty hood latch, Japansese automaker Nissan Motor Co. has recalled about 870,000 cars in the U.S. and Canada. Recalled models include Nissan Altima of 2013 - 2015.

In economic news, Statistics Canada estimated November GDP growth at 0.3 percent, a bit better than forecast.

On the other hand, U.S. real gross domestic product increased by only 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the 2.0 percent growth reported for the third quarter.