TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index continued to reach new highs, while U.S. markets also pushed further into record territory as investors shrugged off new data on the U.S. jobs market and a government shutdown.
Theresa Shutt, chief investment officer at Harbourfront Wealth Management, said markets were “clearly not slowing down” on concerns about the U.S. government shutdown that began on Wednesday.
As Canadian equity markets continued into record territory, Shutt said much of the gains were from the materials sector, noting that investors have been flocking to gold this year.
As markets moved further into record territory, she said the latest data on the U.S. labour market was “somewhat softer.”
U.S. employers outside the government actually cut 32,000 more jobs than they added, according to the survey by ADP Research, with the midwest taking particularly hard hits.
“The reality is at some point the tariff costs will be passed through to the consumers. We’ve seen corporate margins start to get squeezed, as a result, that will make companies reluctant to hire,” Shutt said.
Usually, traders on Wall Street wait for a more comprehensive jobs report that comes from the U.S. government each month to suss out how the job market is doing. The U.S. government gets its data from a larger sample of employers than the ADP survey, which does not have a perfect track record predicting what the more comprehensive report will say each month.
But the next U.S. Labor Department report, scheduled for Friday, is likely to be delayed because of the shutdown of the U.S. government that began just after midnight.
According to Shutt, markets were expecting softer U.S. job numbers on Friday.
“It does sort of work to the U.S. administration’s favour to delay that print. But the longer the shutdown continues, I think that will continue to put pressure on the U.S. dollar and continue to boost gold,” she said.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 84.86 points at 30,107.67.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was 43.21 points at 46,441.10. The S&P 500 index was up 22.74 points at 6,711.20, while the Nasdaq composite was up 95.15 points at 22,755.16. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3 per cent to top its prior all-time high, which was set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1 per cent to its own record set the day before.
Canadian investors digested the most recent summary of deliberations from the Bank of Canada regarding its decision to cut interest rates by a quarter-percentage point to 2.5 per cent on Sept. 17.
The summary noted a weakening economy, and the removal of most retaliatory tariffs helped convince the Bank of Canada that a cut to its key policy rate was warranted.
“Trade uncertainty and tariffs continue to weigh on the economy, and we’ve seen that in terms of slowing and lower GDP growth rates,” Shutt said.
She thinks Canada will avoid a recession but continue to struggle with the impact of tariffs.
The Canadian dollar traded for 71.74 cents US compared with 71.83 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 59 cents US at US$61.78 per barrel. The December gold contract was up US$24.30 at US$3,897.50 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2025.
— With files from The Associated Press
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
