Stock markets in Canada and the U.S. finished in solidly positive territory as investors on both sides of the border awaited fresh jobs news that could portend possible interest rate cuts.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 164.53 points at 28,915.89.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 350.06 points at 45,621.29. The S&P 500 index was up 53.82 points at 6,502.08, while the Nasdaq composite was up 209.97 points at 21,707.69.
The U.S. Labour Department is expected to release a report Friday into the job market’s health in August. The data is expected to carry a lot of weight with the Federal Reserve, which has so far kept rates steady over fears President Donald Trump’s tariffs could worsen inflation.
Barring spectacularly good job figures out of the U.S. tomorrow, an interest-rate cut some time this year seems like a “done deal,” said Michael Currie, senior investment adviser at TD Wealth.
And that’s being reflected in the buoyant markets.
“It is like the white knight of interest rate cuts is coming to the rescue,” he said.
Statistics Canada is also on deck to release its August jobs report on Friday.
A Reuters poll of economists heading into the release expects a gain of 10,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to rise to seven per cent for the month, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
The July labour force survey showed a loss of 41,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 6.9 per cent.
On Thursday, StatCan reported that Canada’s merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $4.9 billion in July, compared to a revised deficit of $6 billion in June.
It’s an improvement, but Currie said the economic numbers in Canada aren’t rosy enough to sway the Bank of Canada from cutting rates.
“It’s nothing really coming out of Canada that’s disastrous,” Currie said. “But certainly the upticks, the green shoots, all those expressions we use if things are turning around — unfortunately we haven’t really seen that.”
On Wall Street, American Eagle Outfitters jumped almost 38 per cent after the teen fashion retailer reported more than double the profit that analysts had expected for its latest quarter. It benefited from a frenzy of media attention in late July over a provocative advertising campaign featuring actor Sydney Sweeney.
The ads — which featured the tag line “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” — sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards and the backlash to “woke” American politics and culture.
Also in the U.S., Salesforce, which helps businesses manage their customers, slumped almost five per cent a day after it reported its latest quarterly results.
“Some of their AI numbers weren’t where people wanted them to be,” Currie said.
On Bay Street, e-commerce platform Shopify Inc. was having a good day with about a 3.8 per cent bump in its closing share price.
“It’s leading the market pretty nicely,” Currie said.
“No big news there, but all the tech names are doing well today.”
The information technology subindex on the TSX was up more than two per cent.
Base metals were down by about one per cent on Friday, but Currie chalks it up to a “one-day rotation” after a strong run.
“I don’t think you read too much into that.”
The Canadian dollar closed at 72.31 cents US compared with 72.50 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was down 49 cents US at US$63.48 per barrel.
The December gold contract was down US$28.80 at US$3,606.70 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2025.
— With files from The Associated Press
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) (TSX:SHOP)
