An announcement by Russia late last week that it had ended military exercises near the Ukraine border helped boost global equity markets after a selloff.

Investors were also encouraged by news that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed indirect talks mediated by Egypt on ending the month-old Gaza war.

Stocks have been under pressure in the past few weeks due to several crises simmering around the world, including a volatile situation in Iraq. Despite the recent choppy action, however, the Toronto stock market's benchmark index is still up about 12 percent this year.

“We're getting back on track for a resumption of the rally,” said Rick Hutcheon, president and chief operating officer at RKH Investments.

“There are signs that the correction that we've been having over the last two or three weeks is coming to an end,” he added. "I think we're going to work our way higher for a while."

Hutcheon is bullish on the prospects for the market's natural resource sectors, especially the energy group.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> closed up 65.33 points, or 0.43 percent, at 15,261.64. Nine of the 10 main sectors on the index were higher.

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, rose 0.6 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (>> Toronto-Dominion Bank) gained 1.6 percent to C$56.48 and had the biggest positive influence on the index. Bank of Nova Scotia (>> The Bank of Nova Scotia) added 0.7 percent to C$72.05.

The industrial sector climbed 0.7 percent, with Canadian National Railway Co (>> Canadian National Railway Company) rising 0.8 percent to C$73.20 and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (>> Canadian Pacific Railway Limited) advancing 0.8 percent to C$209.38.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski; and Peter Galloway)

By John Tilak