Canada’s main stock index rose to another record high on Thursday, with energy and metal mining shares notching gains even as Wall Street ended lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 205.25 points, or 0.6%, at 33,594.98, eclipsing Wednesday’s record closing high. Since the start of 2026, the index has added 5.9%.
“It’s had a pretty good performance so far this year. It’s outperforming the three major U.S. bourses,” said Robert Gill, a portfolio manager at Fairbank Investment Management. “The TSX is unlike its southern counterparts because it’s predominantly driven by commodities.”
The Toronto market’s energy sector rose 2.2% as the price of oil settled 1.9% higher at $66.43 a barrel. Traders worried about escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, which have stepped up military activity in the oil-producing Middle East.
Cenovus Energy said it has begun drilling new wells at its Christina Lake oil sands site in northern Alberta formerly owned by MEG Energy, a plan it says will boost the company’s overall production both this year and in 2027. Shares of the oil sands producer were up 4%.
The materials group, which includes metal mining shares, added 1.3% as the price of gold moved higher, with shares of Torex Gold Resources Inc up 10.5% after the company reported increased quarterly revenue.
Industrials rose 0.9% and technology was up 0.8%.
Three of TSX’s 10 major sectors ended lower, including heavily weighted financials, which lost 0.4%.
U.S. stocks, meanwhile, saw losses in private equity companies and weakness in Walmart and Apple. Earnings-driven gains in industrials limited losses.
Private equity companies slid after Blue Owl Capital’s decision to sell US$1.4 billion in assets and freeze redemptions at one of its funds to manage debt and return capital.
Apollo Global Management, Ares, KKR & Co and Carlyle Group all fell between 1.9% and 5.2% as Blue Owl’s troubles added to recent worries about credit quality and lenders’ exposure to software stocks. Blue Owl tumbled 6%.
Apple dipped 1.4%, weighing more than any other stock on the S&P 500.
Walmart dipped 1.4% after new CEO John Furner kicked off his tenure with a conservative fiscal 2027 forecast, as well as a US$30 billion buyback plan.
AI-linked technology stocks have faced turbulence in recent months due to concerns about high valuations and limited evidence that massive investments in AI are driving revenue and profit growth.
Industries ranging from software to logistics have also been hit by concerns that rapidly improving AI tools could disrupt their business models and steepen competition.
Investors were assessing Thursday’s weekly jobless claims data that pointed to a stabilizing labour market, and will closely parse the Personal Consumption Expenditures report - the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge - which is due on Friday, for hints on the Fed’s rate outlook.
Interest-rate trades suggest a 50% likelihood the Fed will cut rates by its June policy meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
Deere & Co jumped 11.6% after the farm-machinery maker raised its annual profit forecast and beat first-quarter results estimates.
The S&P 500 declined 0.28% to end the session at 6,861.89 points.
The Nasdaq declined 0.31% to 22,682.73 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.54% to 49,395.16 points.
The S&P 500 energy index added 0.6% as crude oil prices rose on mounting fears of a military conflict between the United States and Iran.
The S&P 500 financial index declined 0.9%.
Omnicom jumped 15% after the ad giant beat analysts’ estimates for fourth-quarter revenue, while Carvana dropped almost 8% after the online used-car retailer missed fourth-quarter profit estimates.
Software provider EPAM Systems plunged 17% as its cautious first-quarter outlook disappointed investors.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 by a 1.5-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 27 new highs and 6 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 62 new highs and 146 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 16.4 billion shares traded, compared with an average of 20.5 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
Reuters, Globe staff