Stock markets in Canada, U.S. reach new highs amid continued focus on Venezuela

TORONTO – Strength in the basic materials sector helped lift Canada’s main stock index further into record territory on Tuesday, while U.S. markets also hit new highs as investors continued to assess the impact of U.S. actions on Venezuela.

John Zechner, the chairman and lead equity manager at J. Zechner Associates, said the trading session marked a continuation from the previous day, though it’s not entirely clear whether the strength was a reaction to the U.S. raid on Venezuela or a typical January bounce-back.

“It’s always hard to get a read on the first couple of trading days of the new year as to what’s driving it,” he said.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 187.07 points at 32,407.02.

The February gold contract was up US$44.60 at US$4,496.10 an ounce, which helped lift basic materials stocks.

“This is a destabilizing geopolitical environment. When one country goes in and takes a sovereign leader of another … it is clearly something of pretty big geopolitical news that’s why gold’s rallying the way it is I think,” he said.

After the U.S. military captured the Venezuelan leader, U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to put that country’s oil industry into the hands of American companies.

“It’s a typical stock market thing, they see the potential if something happens down the road and they price it in almost immediately,” Zechner said.

But given the difficulty associated with restoring Venezuelan oil production to previous levels, he said he thinks the market is “way ahead of the game.”

Shares of Canada’s big oil companies were mixed on Tuesday. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. fell 1.54 per cent, shares in Cenovus Energy Inc. lost 2.01 per cent, while Suncor Energy Inc. finished 1.46 per cent higher.

The February crude oil contract was down US$1.19 at US$57.13 per barrel.

In the U.S., big tech companies made some of the most notable moves. Zechner said the group was benefiting from buyers returning to the market after experiencing some weakness to end 2025.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 484.90 points at 49,462.08. The S&P 500 index was up 42.77 points at 6,944.82, while the Nasdaq composite was up 151.35 points at 23,547.17. The S&P 500 set another all-time-high Tuesday.

Amazon, which has reached into both retail and technology, rose 3.37 per cent. It is one of the most valuable companies in the world and its outsized stock valuation helped counter losses elsewhere in the market, including a 1.83 per cent loss from Apple.

Micron Technology rose 10.04 per cent, also helping to lift the market.

Nvidia, which is often the biggest force behind the market’s direction, wavered throughout the day and finished 0.45 per cent lower.

AI advances helped propel the broader market to a series of records in 2025. Investors will be watching companies for any updates that could shed more light on the big corporate investments in AI technology.

Technology companies, especially those focused on artificial intelligence, are being closely watched this week during the industry’s annual CES trade show in Las Vegas.