TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index closed more than 130 points higher, helped by strength in the technology sector, while U.S. markets also rose as rate cuts lifted sentiment.
Sadiq Adatia, chief investment officer at BMO Global Asset Management, said Thursday’s equity market gains came amid a “very strong bullish sentiment” driven by lower borrowing costs on both sides of the border and hopes of continued rate cuts.
“That’s also tied into the underlying fundamentals that we’ve seen over the past few months of really good, strong earnings coming through,” he said.
On Wednesday, investors digested a pair of quarter-point interest rate cuts from both the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada.
Alongside the U.S. Fed’s move to lower borrowing costs, it projected it would cut rates twice more this year as concern grows at the central bank about the health of the U.S. labour market.
“The market is happy with that because, yes the valuations have gone up in the markets, but if you reduce rates, then that makes it a little bit more acceptable,” Adatia said.
U.S. markets also benefited from outsized gains in the tech sector on Thursday.
Intel soared 22.8 per cent for its best day since 1987 after Nvidia said it would buy US$5 billion of the chipmaker’s stock. It’s part of a collaboration where the pair will develop products for data centers and personal computers.
Nvidia climbed 3.5 per cent and was by far the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 because it’s Wall Street’s most valuable company.
“That’s a big boost for Intel and hopefully … that will help lift up an underperformer compared to the other chip sectors,” Adatia said.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 124.10 points at 46,142.42. The S&P 500 index was up 31.61 points at 6,631.96, while the Nasdaq composite was up 209.40 points at 22,470.72.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 131.87 points at 29,453.53.
Thursday’s trading day took place as Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Mexico City to meet with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as both leaders navigate global trade challenges driven by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda.
Sheinbaum said all three countries in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement want to see the agreement strengthened, and also that Carney’s visit offers an opportunity to shore up the bilateral relationship between Canada and Mexico.
“I think right now the TSX and Canada’s economy are going to be more tied to what happens with the USMCA deal. It’s good that we have one of the lowest tariffs in the world, but that’s predominantly because we have this USMCA deal in place today,” Adatia said.
When the deal is renewed, he said he expects Canada’s tariff costs will go up.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty tied to that, and I think it’s going to be important to see how that plays out. And that’s why companies in Canada have to be a little bit careful because they can’t overinvest knowing that there’s this uncertainty ahead of them that needs to get resolved first,” Adatia said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.48 cents US compared with 72.67 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 44 cents US at US$63.26 per barrel. The December gold contract was down US$39.50 at US$3,678.30 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
