TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index gained almost 300 points Wednesday on widespread market strength, while U.S. stocks rose after a mixed trading day.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 290.49 points at 25,569.84.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 317.24 points at 44,873.28. The S&P 500 index was up 23.60 points at 6,061.48, while the Nasdaq composite was up 38.31 points at 19,692.33.
With a potential trade war pushed down the line, markets turned their attention back to corporate profits as U.S. earnings season continued, said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.
“We are seeing some of the big tech names having a bad day after an earnings disappointment,” said Kourkafas.
Alphabet fell 7.3 per cent after it reported stronger profits than expected but slowing growth for its cloud business. Advanced Micro Devices fell 6.3 per cent despite also beating profit estimates as investors sought more details about expectations for the performance of its artificial intelligence offerings.
Strength from other areas of the market — including Amgen and Mattel, which had strong reports — helped offset those losses.
However, after last week’s meltdown over what a new, cheaper Chinese AI model could mean for the big spenders in the U.S., Kourkafas said Alphabet’s announcement of extra spending likely came as a relief to investors.
“The takeaway is that big tech is not pulling back on spending, which lessens concerns about competition from DeepSeek or other sources,” he said.
He added that “one company’s spending is another one’s revenue,” and chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom both saw their stock prices rise Wednesday.
Wednesday generally saw good participation across the market as the trend of broadening strength continues, said Kourkafas.
The TSX outperformed U.S. indexes Wednesday, recovering ground after tariffs from the U.S. and Canadian retaliation were pushed back Monday by a month.
“All in all, the TSX has been able to weather this uncertainty fairly well,” said Kourkafas.
Despite the lingering tariff threat, with interest rates on the way down and the economy “holding up OK,” the backdrop is still favourable for equities, he said.
Friday will bring the latest data on the labour market, a big consideration for the U.S. Federal Reserve as it mulls its next interest rate decision, said Kourkafas.
“If there’s one item that can help open the door to more flexibility for the next meeting, that can be the labour market,” he said.
“For now, we don’t have any indications of any major slowdown, so we’re still looking for that type of Goldilocks number where the labour market is slowing but stabilizing at a healthy level that is not necessarily triggering concerns about inflation, but also is not giving a reason for the Fed to cut rates with any urgency.”
The Canadian dollar traded for 69.95 cents US compared with 69.71 cents US on Tuesday.
The March crude oil contract was down US$1.67 at US$71.03 per barrel and the March natural gas contract was up 11 cents at US$3.36 per mmBTU.
The April gold contract was up US$17.20 at US$2,893 an ounce and the March copper contract was up nine cents at US$4.44 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
