TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index moved higher Monday, as strength in technology and financial stocks helped outweigh weakness in other parts of the market, while U.S. markets also rose.
The Dow Jones outperformed the major U.S. indexes Monday, rising 0.7 per cent, while some large tech companies weighed other parts of the market down.
“That’s just a continuation of certain sectors that rallied post-election,” said Stephen Duench, vice-president and portfolio manager at AGF Investments Inc.
The continued strength was led by so-called “Trump trades” that could benefit from the soon-to-be president Donald Trump’s promised policies. These include financial stocks and domestic industrials, as well as Bitcoin and the U.S. dollar, said Duench.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 304.14 points at 44,293.13. The S&P 500 index was up 5.81 points at 6,001.35,while the Nasdaq composite was up 11.99 points at 19,298.76.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 29.88 points at 24,789.28.
Bitcoin rose above US$87,000 for the first time, riding the post-election wave as Trump has pledged to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world.
Overall, investors have been in a risk-taking mood since the election results came out, Duench said, with commodities showing more weakness as investors move out of their safe havens.
“While gold is kind of getting hurt since the election, Bitcoin is benefiting just because of a little bit more risk-on behaviour,” he said.
The Russell 2000 — an index made up of small-cap stocks in the U.S. — has also had a great run since the election, noted Duench.
This week will bring the latest inflation report in the U.S., after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate again last week.
Investors are also still working their way through earnings season, which is close to done in the U.S. but still in swing in Canada.
This season has been characterized by dramatic reactions to companies that miss expectations, said Duench.
“Misses on revenues or earnings were punished more than they usually are,” he said.
This has been even more pronounced in Canada, he added.
It’s likely a symptom of markets being at record highs, said Duench.
“Investors like momentum,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 71.82 cents US, according to XE.com,compared with 71.88 cents US on Friday.
The December crude oil contract was down US$2.34 at US$68.04 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was up 25 cents at US$2.92 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$77.10 at US$2,617.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was down eight cents at US$4.23 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
