The Canadian dollar traded for 72.53 cents US compared with 72.65 cents US on Thursday.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 132.87 points at 14,966.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 69.01 cents US compared with an average of 69.05 cents US on Monday.

After starting the day stronger, markets dropped to end the week down by double digits compared to last week.

Shares rebounded in Europe and Asia on Tuesday after a brutal sell-off that gave the U.S. stock market its worst loss in over 30 years, with many economies grinding to a standstill in hopes of containing the spread of the coronavirus.

The Bank of Canada unexpectedly cut its overnight rate by 50 basis points to 0.75 per cent, its second half-point cut in nine days, and the government said it would offer C$10 billion in credit support to businesses.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 443.85 points or 3.1 per cent to 14,958.09 after losing 1,660.78 points on Monday.

The energy index plunged 17.3 per cent to its lowest level since August 2004 and crude prices were on track for their worst day in three decades as Saudi Arabia and Russia moved to significantly ramp up production after the collapse of a supply cut agreement.

Expect more deep rate cuts from the Bank of Canada and stimulus spending from Ottawa, one economist says.

Trading was very busy on U.S. exchanges, with 14 billion shares changing hands compared with a 9.5 billion-share average for the last 20 days.