Wall Street’s main indexes ended higher on Monday, with the small-cap Russell 2000 index hitting an all-time high after Scott Bessent’s nomination as U.S. Treasury secretary helped push bond yields lower. Canada’s main index ended slightly in the red.
Focus also turned to talks of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, which pushed oil prices and energy stocks lower.
President-elect Donald Trump ended weeks of speculation when he named his choice late on Friday, with some investment strategists saying Bessent could take measures to restrain further government borrowing, even as he follows through on fiscal and trade campaign pledges.
In an interview published on Sunday, Bessent told the Wall Street Journal that both tax and spending cuts were priorities. And Bessent had told CNBC earlier in November, before his selection as Treasury secretary, that he would recommend “tariffs be layered in gradually.”
“Bessent understands a lot of different asset classes and is going to help Trump stay very sensitive to market reactions,” said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer with BMO Family Office. “Markets are pretty self-centered. They want to make sure people are paying attention to them or they throw a tantrum.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 440.06 points, or 0.99%, to 44,736.57,which was a record closing high. The S&P 500 rose 18.03 points, or 0.30%, to 5,987.37 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 51.18 points, or 0.27%, to 19,054.84.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 33.93 points, or 0.1%, at 25,410.35, pulling back from a record closing high on Friday.
The U.S. small-cap index hit an all-time intraday high of 2,466.49, eclipsing the record level it touched three years ago, as Treasury yields dropped sharply, with the 30-year U.S. bond leading the yield declines across the board.
Expectations that Trump, along with a Republican Congress, can make good on his promise of business-friendly policies have been the latest tailwinds for small-cap companies. They have been in the spotlight since the U.S. Federal Reserve commenced its monetary policy easing cycle in September. Concerns remain, however, that inflationary pressures could spike and slow the pace of the Fed’s policy easing.
The Canadian 10-year yield was down 12.1 basis points at 3.306%, tracking moves in U.S. Treasuries.
The decline in bond yields helped boost interest rate sensitive sectors such as real estate, which added 2.5% in Toronto.
The TSX energy sector lost 1.8% as the price of oil settled 3.2% lower at US$68.94 a barrel.
Gold, which has benefited recently from its safe-haven appeal, also fell. The TSX materials group, which includes gold miners and fertilizer companies, ended 2.2% lower.
Technology in Toronto rose 1.3% and industrials ended up 0.8%.
CI Financial Corp was a standout. Its shares jumped 30% after the asset and wealth manager said that Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital would take the company private in a C$12.1 billion all-cash deal, including debt.
On Wall Street, consumer discretionary stocks led sectoral gains, aided by Amazon.com’s 2.2% rise.
The Personal Consumption Expenditure report, the central bank’s preferred inflation gauge, will be on investors’ radar later this week, which includes the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
Macy’s fell 2.2% after the department-store operator delayed the publication of its third-quarter results due to an accounting issue.
Bath & Body Works raised its forecast for full-year adjusted profit, sending the retailer’s shares up 16.5%.
Barclays raised its full-year 2025 forecast for the S&P 500, while Deutsche Bank set its target at 7,000 points by the end of 2025.
Reuters, Globe staff