TORONTO — Strength in base metals and technology helped Canada's main stock index rise on Monday, while U.S. stocks also rose as November's gains continue.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 70.70 points at 20,246.47.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 203.76 points at 35,151.04. The S&P 500 index was up 33.36 points at 4,547.38, while the Nasdaq composite was up 159.05 points at 14,284.53.
The Monday gains kicked off what will be a quieter week as U.S. Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, said Rose Devli, portfolio manager at 1832 Asset Management.
November overall has seen a shift in tone as investors shed some of their fear after the rate volatility in October, said Devli. This month, with the U.S. Federal Reserve holding its rate steady and a promising inflation report, investors are increasingly certain that the central bank is done hiking rates this cycle, she said.
“It’s been a breath of fresh air,” she said.
That shift was evident in Monday’s auction of 20-year U.S. Treasury bonds, said Devli. Following a 30-year auction earlier this month she dubbed a “disaster,” there was some worry heading into this one, but it went well, she said.
“Seeing that ... there was a broad participation in the auction that gave the market a little bit more of a breather,” she said.
As earnings season winds down, Tuesday will see tech titan Nvidia set to report its latest financial results. As one of the most valuable publicly traded U.S. companies and a big player in the AI rally from earlier this year, “all investors will be focused on tomorrow's earnings,” said Devli.
But it likely won’t be enough for Nvidia to meet or beat earnings expectations. This earnings season has seen some companies beating earnings but still losing ground on the stock market after their cautious outlooks spooked investors.
Elsewhere in the tech sector, Microsoft shares helped lift markets on Monday after announcing it’s hiring Sam Altman, the former CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. News of Altman’s sudden dismissal from Open AI broke on Friday.
As markets head into the last month of the year, with one more Fed decision before the holiday season, “it seems like a lot of the catalysts that were worrying people have gone away,” said Devli.
“January 1 is a different year, but in the short term, it feels that way.”
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.85 cents US, according to XE.com, compared with 72.88 cents US on Friday.
The January crude contract was up US$1.79 at US$77.83 per barrel and the January natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$3.05 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$4.40 at US$1,980.30 an ounce and the December copper contract was up eight cents at US$3.81 a pound.
-- With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press
