Canada Stocks: TSX rises to 5-week high as US holds back on trade tariffs

Kits Eyecare

20/01/2025 21:25

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      TSX ends up 0.4% at 25,171.58
    

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      Posts fifth straight day of gains
    

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      Energy rises 2.3%, industrials add 0.8%
    

  
 (Updates at market close)
    By Fergal Smith
       Jan 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed to
a five-week high on Monday, helped by gains for energy and
industrial shares, as investors expressed relief that Canada
would avoid immediate U.S. trade tariffs from President Donald
Trump.
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
 .GSPTSE  ended up 103.66 points, or 0.4%,  at 25,171.58, its
fifth straight day of gains and the highest closing level since
Dec. 13.
    Trump will issue a broad trade memo that stops short of
imposing new tariffs on his first day in office but directs
federal agencies to evaluate U.S. trade relationships with
China, Canada and Mexico, a Trump administration official said.
Trump had threatened an immediate 25% tariff on Canadian goods.
    "There is a collective sigh of relief," said Greg Taylor, a
portfolio manager at Purpose Investments. "This is probably a
lot more measured than some had feared and that's why we're
seeing more green on the screen today and a bit of a bounce in
the energy stocks and some of the materials."
    Trading volumes were lighter than usual with U.S. markets
closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
    "Tomorrow we'll get a way better indication once there's
more players back but so far I think this is a pretty welcome
start to the next four years,"  Taylor said.
    Canadian firms see improved demand and sales in the coming
year, largely fueled by interest rate cuts, but are concerned
about the potential damage from promised U.S. policies, the Bank
of Canada said.
    Industrials rose 0.8%, helped by a gain of 7.2% for the
shares of business jet exporter Bombardier Inc  BBDb.TO .
    Energy was up 2.3% despite lower oil prices. Shares of
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd  CNQ , Canada's largest oil and
gas producer, added 4.4%.
    The materials group, which includes metal mining shares,
ended 1.2% higher as gold  XAU=  prices rose.

 (Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Nikhil Sharma in
Bengaluru. Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Mark Potter and David
Gregorio)
 ((mailto:fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com))