The Canadian stock market started 2012 trading with a big jump as commodity prices rose in the wake of strong manufacturing data and oil prices got extra lift from rising tensions between Western nations and Iran.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index leaped 253.34 points, or 2.12 percent, in the first trading day to 12,208.43 while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index climbed 21.26 points, or 1.46 percent, at 1,506.28.

New York markets were also sharply higher with surveys showing that manufacturing in the U.S., India, China and Australia improved in December. The U.S. Institute for Supply Management said on Tuesday that the manufacturing index expanded more than expected in December, which was higher than the 52.7 reading registered in November.

Traders were also relieved to see China's main manufacturing index showed expansion. Over the weekend, the Chinese government released its official reading on manufacturing activity, showing the sector expanded slightly in December, after contracting the month before.

China has been an important prop for the fragile global economic recovery, supporting commodity prices and energy and mining stocks on the resource-heavy Canadian stock market. But recent figures have shown some signs of weakness and its growth slowed down during 2011 as the Chinese government discouraged lending to control the inflation.

But traders were skeptical that the economic data signals a positive turning point for the global economy. Worries about a slowing global economy and a worsening euro zone government debt crisis pushed the Canadian stock market down nearly 11 percent in 2011.

Investors think that Europe will continue to pressure markets if there is no convincing mechanism to deal with the crisis.

Oil prices jumped more than 4 U.S. dollars on Tuesday after Iran test-fired a surface-to-surface cruise missile on Monday. Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, where one-sixth of global crude exports pass, as possible retaliation to new U.S. economic sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.

The Feb. crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange climbed 4.16 dollar to 102.99 U.S. dollars a barrel, sending the Toronto Stock Exchange energy sector up 3.38 percent. Canadian Natural Resources climbed 4.38 percent to 39.82 Canadian dollars.

The base metals and mining sector gained 4.96 percent as copper prices advanced following the Chinese data. Copper is viewed as a key economic barometer because it is widely used in infrastructure projects and consumer products. China is one of the biggest consumers of the world metal. The March contract in New York gained nine cents to 3.53 U.S. dollars. Teck Resources was the biggest gainers with a jump of more than 6.5 percent to 38.37 Canadian dollars.

In corporate news, Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. stock rose 3 percent on Tuesday after it announced to exercise its option to sell its remaining 40 percent interest in the MacKay River oil to the Chinese oil giant PetroChina for about 680 million Canadian dollars. The deal gives PetroChina full ownership of MacKay River project, making it the first large-scale development in the region to be wholly owned by a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

On the currency front, a growing appetite for risk pushed the U. S. dollar lower and sent the Canadian dollar up 1.02 of a cent to 98.94 U.S. cents. One U.S. dollar was buying 1.0109 Canadian dollars at 5 p.m. local time (22:00 GMT) on Tuesday, compared with one U.S. dollar purchasing 1.0213 Canadian dollars last Friday.