TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index finished 1.5 per cent higher on Monday while U.S. markets also rose as tech enthusiasm and expectations of lower borrowing costs in the U.S. drove a rally.
“The thing that stands out to me in the sectors in Canada today is if you look at the big winners on the day, it’s almost exclusively tech and gold,” said Michael Currie, senior investment adviser at TD Wealth, regarding the performance of the S&P/TSX composite index on Monday.
While gains on the day were been concentrated in certain areas of the Canadian market, he noted that the companies losing ground were more spread out.
Currie noted that while Canada’s tech sector benefited from enthusiasm in U.S. tech stocks, it was less clear what was driving the basic materials sector higher, beyond an incremental increase in the price of gold.
The December gold contract was up US$14.70 at US$4,094.20 an ounce.
Within the basic materials sector, shares of Barrick Mining Corp. gained 8.54 per after it said it has signed a deal with the government of Mali to resolve their protracted dispute over the company’s Loulo and Gounkoto mines.
“That’s helping them a lot. They’re having a much larger move than most of the others,” Currie said.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 443.70 points at 30,604.35.
The U.S. market benefited from strength for stocks caught up in the artificial-intelligence frenzy. Alphabet, which has been getting praise for its newest Gemini AI model, rallied 6.3 per cent and was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500. Nvidia rose 2.1 per cent.
Broadcom Inc. shares also gained 11.10 per cent on the day.
Currie noted that there has been a “lot of talk” in the U.S. surrounding Broadcom and Google. He noted that while Broadcom is not a household name in Canada, it’s one of the larger stocks out there and capped off its best day in six months. Meanwhile, he said Alphabet saw gains on positive news.
U.S. stocks also got a lift from rising hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate again at its next meeting in December, a move that could boost the economy and investment prices.
“Just about everything in the market, at least in the short term, benefits from a rate cut,” Currie said.
Some Fed officials have already argued against a December cut in part because inflation has stubbornly remained above their two per cent target.
Traders are nevertheless betting on a nearly 85 per cent probability that the Fed will cut rates next month, up from 71 per cent on Friday and from less than a coin flip’s chance seen a week ago, according to data from CME Group.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 202.86 points at 46,448.27. The S&P 500 index was up 102.13 points at 6,705.12, while the Nasdaq composite was up more than two per cent, gaining 598.92 points or 2.7 per cent at 22,872.01.
The Canadian dollar traded for 70.88 cents US compared with 70.92 cents US on Friday.
The January crude oil contract was up 78 cents US at US$58.84 per barrel.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2025.
— With files from The Associated Press.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD, TSX: ABX)
