S&P/TSX composite rises, led by energy and industrial stocks

TORONTO — Strength in energy and industrial stocks helped Canada’s main stock index move higher Thursday.

It was an unsurprisingly quiet day for markets north of the border, as the TSX is usually heavily influenced by U.S. market movements.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 55.22 points at 25,543.52, while U.S. stock markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The index gained a modest 0.22 per cent Thursday, but is up just under six per cent for the month of November so far. Markets rallied coming out of the U.S. election this month and have largely held on to those gains.

“Obviously, there was some relief coming out of the election,” said Kathrin Forrest, equity investment specialist at Capital Group.

“It’s almost independent of the outcome, but as uncertainty resolves itself, that is a relief for risk assets in general, and we did see that.”

Markets in November have also seen strength in sectors that may stand to benefit from president-elect Donald Trump’s economic proposals.

Much of 2024 has been dominated by gains for a handful of large tech companies, said Forrest.

But in recent months, sectors like financials and consumer discretionary have seen renewed strength, she said.

“So that is certainly constructive in the context of … a broadening market,” she said.

The last month of the year will see both the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve announce interest rate decisions on Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, respectively.

“There’s still a level of uncertainty” over whether the central banks will cut their key rates again before the year ends, said Forrest.

In Canada, data on economic growth, labour markets and inflation is expected in the coming weeks.

“All of those will be important and interesting to watch, especially in the context of the Bank of Canada, which has now put a little bit more spotlight on the labour market,” Forrest said.

The Canadian economy has lagged the U.S.’s as interest rate hikes have had a bigger impact on consumers.

In the U.S., the Fed will get both employment and inflation data before it announces its own rate decision. Market bets for rate cuts from the Fed in the coming year have been pared back post-election as some of Trump’s promised policies are considered potentially inflationary.

The Canadian dollar traded for 71.38 cents US compared with 71.25 cents US on Wednesday.

The January crude oil contract was up 16 cents at US$68.88 per barrel in electronic trading and the January natural gas contract was up nine cents at US$3.30 per mmBTU.

The February gold contract was down US$3.30 at US$2,652.60 an ounce and the March copper contract was down a penny at US$4.13 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press