TORONTO -- North American stock markets rallied Tuesday after the Trump administration postponed tariffs on popular consumer goods imported from China.

The U.S. government said it would delay imposing 10 per cent tariffs on mobile phones, toys and other items on holiday shopping lists until Dec. 15, while tariffs would be removed entirely on some fish and baby seats.

Markets have been volatile since President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that he would impose the tariffs on about US$300 billion of Chinese imports. That's in addition to 25 per cent tariffs imposed on US$250-billion of imports. China responded by devaluing its currency and cutting agricultural imports.

The de-escalation in the trade war between the world's two largest economies improved investor sentiment a day after markets fell to start the week, said Crystal Maloney, head of equity research at CIBC Asset Management.

"Trade frictions have been a major driver of investor sentiment and investors have been worried about what the slowdown in global trade flows is going to be on economies so we're seeing a strong snapback in markets," she said in an interview.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 113.07 points at 16,350.84.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 372.54 points at 26,279.91. The S&P 500 index was up 42.57 points at 2,926.32, while the Nasdaq composite was up 152.95 points at 8,016.36.

Ten of the 11 major sectors of the TSX climbed, led by health care, consumer discretionary, industrials and energy.

Car seat maker Dorel Industries Inc. and toymaker Spin Master Corp. gained almost three per cent on the easing of tariffs. Canadian Pacific Railway helped the industrials sector by rising 2.6 per cent.

The key energy sector was driven by gains from several producers including TC Energy Corp, Cenovus Energy Inc. and Crescent Point Energy Corp. as the price of crude rose.

The September crude contract was up US$2.17 at US$57.10 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was up 4.2 cents at US$2.15 per mmBTU.

Materials was the lone sector to lose ground with Centerra Gold Inc. falling four per cent and First Majestic Silver Corp. down 3.75 per cent.

The December gold contract was down US$3.10 at US$1,514.10 an ounce and the September copper contract was up 4.5 cents at US$2.63 a pound.

The Canadian dollar traded for an average of 75.55 cents US, compared with an average of 75.56 cents US on Monday.