TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index finished lower, weighed down by declining gold prices, while U.S. stock markets hit new highs amid positive U.S.-China trade sentiment.
Dustin Reid, chief strategist for fixed income at Mackenzie Investments, said falling gold prices were one of the key factors behind the discrepancy between the performance of Canadian and U.S. indexes on Monday.
“From a pure commodity perspective, gold and silver, and a number of the other metals are lower, which is having an outsized impact on Canada versus the U.S. from an equities perspective,” he said.
The December gold contract was down US$118.10 at US$4,019.70 an ounce.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 77.31 points at 30,275.76 as shares in the country’s big gold miners moved lower.
Meanwhile, he noted U.S. markets benefited from improved sentiment regarding the trading relationship between the U.S. and China.
Stocks also rallied in Asia ahead of a meeting on Thursday between the heads of the United States and China. The hope is that the talks could clear rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies and allow the global economy to keep motoring.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there’s “a framework” for U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss at their meeting, while Trump said, “We feel good” about working things out with China.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 337.47 points at 47,544.59. The S&P 500 index was up 83.47 points at 6,875.16, while the Nasdaq composite was up 432.59 points at 23,637.46. The trio set all-time highs for a second straight day.
As more companies report earnings for the latest quarter, Reid noted investors will be closely watching large U.S. tech companies.
Some of Wall Street’s most influential stocks are set to report their results this week, including Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Microsoft on Wednesday, and Amazon and Apple on Thursday. They’ll need to deliver big growth and justify big spending underway in artificial intelligence technology.
“What has been a really important driver for not only markets, but also the economy, is obviously the AI story and in particular the AI capex story,” Reid said.
“I think a lot of investors are going to be looking at this week’s big earnings, particularly out of the tech sector, to see where we are in terms of the AI capex spending cycle.”
He noted that while some market participants believe we are in the “early to middle innings” for AI capex, others believe the outsized spending is coming to an end.
“I’m interested to see because I think that’s very important from a macro perspective. It was clearly a big driver for, particularly, U.S. GDP growth in the first half of the year,” he said.
Worries have been climbing that AI may be in the midst of a bubble, similar to the dot-com bonanza that ended up bursting in 2000. Nvidia’s stock is up 42.6 per cent for the year so far, for example, and Qualcomm soared 11.1 per cent Monday after unveiling AI products for data centers.
Investors in Canada will also digest a key interest rate decision from the Bank of Canada on Wednesday. Most economists expect the Bank of Canada will look past strong jobs data and signs of stubbornness on the inflation front to deliver a second consecutive cut.
Reid said the market is “well priced” for a quarter-point cut from Canada’s central bank.
“It would be surprising in the market if the bank did not cut rates,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 71.45 cents US compared with 71.36 cents US on Friday.
The December crude oil contract was down 19 cents US at US$61.31 per barrel.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2025.
— With files from The Associated Press.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
