Canada’s commodity-heavy main stock index edged up to a record high on Tuesday as energy stocks climbed and Teck Resources Ltd. agreed to merge with London-listed miner Anglo American.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended up 35.28 points, or 0.1%, at 29,063.01, inching past the record closing high posted on Friday.
The S&P 500 U.S. benchmark index and the Nasdaq also notched record high closes after a downward U.S. payrolls revision supported expectations the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates to shore up economic growth.
The planned merger between Teck and Anglo American would mark the mining sector’s second-biggest M&A deal ever and forge a new global copper-focused heavyweight.
“The street seems to be seeing this deal as favourable for both parties,” Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, said in a note.
Teck’s shares jumped 11.5%, while the materials group added 0.1% to extend its record-setting run. Fed rate cut prospects helped underpin the price of gold.
Oil settled 0.6% higher at US$62.63 a barrel. The Israeli military said it carried out an attack on Hamas leadership in Qatari capital Doha. The energy sector rose 1.6%, with shares of Cenovus Energy ending 2% higher.
U.S. refiner Phillips 66 said it will acquire the remaining 50% stake in WRB Refining from Cenovus for $1.4 billion.
Still, six of 10 major sectors lost ground, including a decline of 0.4% for industrials.
The U.S. economy likely created 911,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March than previously estimated, the U.S. government said in Tuesday’s payrolls report, suggesting that job growth was already stalling before President Donald Trump launched his global tariffs.
Financial markets have priced in a 25 basis point cut at the Fed’s policy meeting next week, and futures trading suggests a nearly 10% chance of a 50 basis point cut, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
Recent nonfarm payroll data for July and August also pointed to weakening labor market conditions.
“This does nothing to dissuade the Fed from moving 25 basis points,” said Paul Nolte, a market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest in Chicago, about the payrolls revision. “We don’t know month by month and won’t for a few more months yet, but it points out that labour is weak.”
UnitedHealth jumped 8.6% after it said it expects enrollment in top-rated Medicare insurance plans to be in line with its expectations, which could mean bigger payments from the government to the health insurer.
JPMorgan Chase rose 1.7% after a senior executive said investment banking revenue will grow in the low double digits for the third quarter and that markets revenue would grow in the high teens percentage rate for the third quarter.
“That’s all good news, signs of a good, thriving economy. M&A is coming back after Trump’s Liberation Day put a screeching halt to that,” said Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital, referring to U.S. tariffs announced in April.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.27% to end the session at 6,512.61 points, its highest close ever. The Nasdaq gained 0.37% to 21,879.49 points, also a record high close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.43% to 45,711.34 points.
Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by communication services, up 1.64%, followed by a 0.71% gain in utilities.
Shares of Apple fell 1.5% after the company unveiled new iPhones that failed to excite investors.
Broadcom dipped 2.6% after the world’s second most valuable chipmaker gained in the five previous sessions.
Investors will focus on a producer inflation report on Wednesday and consumer prices data on Thursday to gauge the impact of Trump’s tariff policies, and whether a case could be made for more aggressive interest rate cuts.
Among other U.S. stocks, Nebius soared almost 50% after the AI infrastructure firm signed a $17.4 billion deal with Microsoft. Rival CoreWeave jumped 7%.
Class B shares of Fox Corp fell 6.7% and News Corp dipped 4.5%. Rupert Murdoch and his children reached an agreement that will give the eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, control over the media empire.
Albemarle plunged 11.5% due to easing supply concerns as Chinese battery company CATL is expected to resume production at a lithium mine.
In extended trade, Oracle surged 12% following its quarterly report.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 by a 1.4-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 19 new highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 100 new highs and 64 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 15.6 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 16.1 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
Reuters, Globe staff