TORONTO -- North American markets were moderately higher after U.S. Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen hinted at a potential interest rate hike in the coming months.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index gained 56.03 points to 14,105.23.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.40 of a U.S. cent to 76.70 cents US, after a solid gain of just over one cent the previous two sessions.
South of the border, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 44.93 points at 17,873.22, while the broader S&P 500 rose 8.96 points to 2,099.06 and the Nasdaq added 31.74 points to 4,933.51.
In commodities, benchmark North American crude oil was down 15 cents at US$49.33 a barrel, its third consecutive small decline in a week that saw it pop above US$50 a barrel in intraday trading.
July natural gas rose two cents to US$2.17 per mmBtu, while August gold slid $6 to US$1,216.70 a troy ounce and July copper rose a penny to US$2.11 a pound.
