TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index finished higher on Friday amid gains in energy stocks following more major projects announcements, while U.S. markets were mixed.
Theresa Shutt, chief investment officer at Harbourfront Wealth Management, said gains in the TSX energy sector came after some recent announcements by Prime Minister Mark Carney.
On Thursday, Carney identified the second tranche of projects his government is submitting to the Major Projects Office for consideration as projects of national interest.
Shutt said the move was welcomed by the oil and gas industry.
“I think the theme of capital spending and investing in infrastructure is a big one, and obviously that impacts the energy sector,” she said.
Overall, Shutt said she thinks the latest federal budget is “doing what it needed to do,” which is looking to address Canada’s “fundamental problem of lacklustre productivity.”
Canadian investors are also expecting the release of October inflation figures next week from Statistics Canada.
“I believe the inflation data will come in on target. I don’t expect that we’re going to have any kind of upside or downside surprises,” Shutt said.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 72.82 points at 30,326.46.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 309.74 points at 47,147.48. The S&P 500 index was down 3.38 points at 6,734.11, while the Nasdaq composite was up 30.23 points at 22,900.59.
Meanwhile, an early swoon shook the U.S. stock market on Friday, as Nvidia, bitcoin, gold and other high flyers swung on an increasingly antsy Wall Street, but it quickly calmed.
AI stocks were again at the center of the action, a day after dragging Wall Street to one of its worst drops since its springtime sell-off. Nvidia, which has become the poster child of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology, began the day with a loss of 3.4 per cent. It then stormed back to a rise of 1.8 per cent and yanked the market in its wake.
Shutt said there are concerns regarding stock valuations, particularly in the AI sector.
“There’s a bit of a trade-off happening with respect to ‘is it time to let it fall and buy the dip, or maybe things have gotten a little bit too heated,’” she said.
Critics have been warning that the U.S. stock market could be primed for a drop because of how high prices have shot since April, leaving them looking too expensive. They pointed in particular to stocks swept up in the AI mania.
Nvidia’s stock has more than doubled in four of the last five years, for example, and the chip company is still up more than 40 per cent for this year so far.
Amid talk of a potential significant pullback or correction, Shutt said that isn’t something the market is seeing.
“I think the fundamentals are still strong in the U.S.,” she said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 71.30 cents US compared with 71.34 cents US on Thursday.
The December crude oil contract was up US$1.40 at US$60.09 per barrel. The December gold contract was down US$100.30 at US$4,094.20 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
