March 14: Although technology and financial stocks drove broad-based gains and Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister, investors questioned whether the recent selloff fueled by tariffs had ended. Despite this, Toronto’s major stock index gained on Friday. At 24,553.40, the S&P/TSX composite index of the Toronto Stock Exchange saw its largest daily gain since August 8, up 350.17 points, or 1.45%. The TSX closed at its lowest level in four and a half months on Thursday. That was down 0.83% for the week. Following a wild week in which there was a widespread selloff as investors evaluated the potential economic consequences of the Trump administration’s disorganized trade policy, U.S. stocks also recovered. “We are seeing a relief rally in the markets today,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management. “However, a better categorization for this might be a dead-cat bounce. There hasn’t been any positive news to shift sentiment.”
Carney, an ex-central banker, reconfigured his cabinet with an eye to negotiating with Washington. “We still believe the Canadian index can continue to outperform its U.S. counterpart as we view the TSX companies as more attractive from a valuation perspective and less sensitive to tariffs,” Petursson stated.
The S&P 500 has down 4.13% since the start of the year, while the TSX has dropped 0.71%. Friday saw increases in all ten main sectors, with oil contributing 1.6%, financials up 1.9%, and technology up 2.8%. Gold reached a new record high above $3,000 an ounce, while the price of oil finished almost 1% higher at $67.18 a barrel. Metal mining shares are part of the materials group, which had a 1% increase. Following the bus manufacturer’s quarterly results and the awarding of a contract with York Region Transit to its subsidiary, NFI Group Inc.’s shares surged 20.79%. Without any textual changes, this article was produced from an automatic news agency feed.