Canada Stocks: Toronto stocks jump in anticipation of Trump inauguration

Kits Eyecare

20/01/2025 15:39

(Updates with market opening prices)
    By Nikhil Sharma
       Jan 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed to
a five-week high on Monday ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration
as U.S. president, with markets expecting the incoming
administration to go easy on tariff pledges.
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  was up 0.6% at 25,217.78, and was trading at its
highest since Dec. 16.
    U.S. markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day,
keeping trading volumes lighter than usual.
    Donald Trump will be sworn in as U.S. president at 12:00
p.m. ET in a highly anticipated global event, with particular
focus on the slew of executive actions concerning immigration,
energy and tariffs that he has pledged to sign on day one.
    Giving some relief to investors, a Wall Street Journal
report said Trump will stop short of imposing new tariffs on key
trading partners on his first day in office.
    "Not everything that he (Trump) said has come to play out
exactly as he commented or as the rhetoric has suggested," said
Josh Sheluk, portfolio manager at Verecan Capital Management.
    "He understands that blanket 25% tariffs on everything would
be probably very problematic or maybe catastrophic for
economies, including the U.S."
    All major sectors on the index logged gains. Industrials
 .GSPTTIN  led the charge, adding 1.2%, with business jet maker
Bombardier  BBDb.TO  jumping 6.2% to the top of the TSX.
    Heavyweight energy  .SPTTEN  advanced 1.1%, while materials
 .GSPTTMT  added to the gains with a 0.6% jump. 
    Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar  CAD=  was trading 1.3%
higher against the U.S. dollar, on track for its best day in
over two years.
    Canada has been at the epicenter of Trump's tariff threats,
as he pledged to impose a 25% tariff on imports from the
country, a key trading ally that sends a majority of exports
across the border.
    Among other stocks, Kits Eyecare  KITS.TO  rose 2.3% after
the eyecare provider reported 42% growth in its fourth-quarter
revenue.

 (Reporting by Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru. Editing by Tomasz
Janowski and Mark Potter)
 ((Nikhil.Sharma@thomsonreuters.com;))