TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index closed up along with U.S. markets Tuesday as investors saw reason for optimism on the trade front.
The S&P/TSX composite index was trading down earlier in the day and U.S. markets were mixed, but that shifted as U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the country had reached a trade deal, while U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to soften the tariff hit to the auto sector.
“I think generally in the U.S. we are getting a little bit of better tone and sentiment around trade,” said Mona Mahajan, head of investment strategy at Edward Jones.
“It does feel like progress on trade is moving in the right direction. There’s a cool-down in the temperature as well, not only on trade, but around central bank independence and Fed independence in particular.”
The Canadian election being over is also a help, she said.
“Not a huge surprise to see Carney emerge as the victor here, but perhaps a bit of a sigh of relief to have one source of uncertainty behind in terms of elections being over,” said Mahajan.
“And perhaps looking forward to some fiscal spending and stimulus coming from the new Canadian administration as well.”
While there are still some ballots being counted, Monday’s election looks to have left Prime Minister Mark Carney just a few seats shy of a majority government.
The S&P/TSX composite index up 75.89 points at 24,874.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 300.03 points at 40,527.62. The S&P 500 index was up 32.08 points at 5,560.83, while the Nasdaq composite was up 95.19 points at 17,461.32.
U.S. markets have also been recovering as corporate America’s quarterly results come in better than expected. About 43 per cent of S&P 500 companies have reported Q1 results so far and of those, 75 per cent have reported a positive surprise in earnings, said Mahajan.
“That’s above recent historical averages.”
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.22 cents US compared with 72.20 cents US on Monday.
The June crude oil contract was down US$1.63 at US$60.42 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was up six cents US at US$3.39 per mmBTU.
The June gold contract was down US$14.10 at US$3,333.60 an ounce and the July copper contract was down two cents at US$4.87 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
