TORONTO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock index rose Monday morning, as officials in the U.S. Trump administration have noted that the trade dispute with China could be resolved through talks.
Moreover, Mexico's economy minister said on Monday that he saw an 80 percent chance of a new the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal by the first week of May.
At 12:20 p.m. (1620 GMT) Monday, the Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 80.62 points, or 0.53 percent, to 15,288.03.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.02 cents at 0.7828 U.S. dollar.
The financial group, which accounts for more than a third of TSX's weight, rose 0.5 percent due to gains in big banks.
On Sunday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he does not expect a trade war between the United States and China to take place, according to media reports.
Analysts said the upbeat comments from the Trump administration helped lift market sentiment. Enditem
