TORONTO — Strength in the utility, financial and technology sectors helped Canada's main stock index gain almost 200 points on Tuesday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 195.87 points at 26,269.00.
Tuesday’s gains were widely spread out across sectors, said Michael Currie, senior investment adviser at TD Wealth.
But “the big story by far” for the day was Scotiabank reporting its second-quarter earnings, he said.
While the bank’s profits were slightly down — it reported a net income of $2.03 billion, compared with $2.09 billion a year earlier — and its provisions for credit losses rose by $391 million from last year to $1.4 billion, Scotiabank boosted its dividend for the first time in two years, from $1.06 per share to $1.10.
The bank’s stock price closed around 1.6 per cent higher than it opened on the day.
“So a little bit of a mixed bag there, but certainly nice to have at least a positive sentiment on the market,” said Currie.
The TSX also got an overall boost from Wall Street’s positive momentum, he added.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 740.58 points at 42,343.65 after U.S markets were closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. The S&P 500 index was up 118.72 points at 5,921.54, while the Nasdaq composite was up 461.96 points at 19,199.16.
Currie said it’s common for the market to perform well coming off a long weekend, which “tends to put people in a more cheery, optimistic mood.”
But other factors were also at play, he said, including a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump about delaying a proposed 50 per cent tariff on goods coming from the European Union.
Trump said the U.S. would delay implementation of the levy from June 1 until July 9 to buy time for negotiations with the E.U., after a call Sunday with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. Trump said she told him she “wants to get down to serious negotiations.”
“We've seen a real improvement in the last month and a half or so that a lot of this was behind us, some sense that a lot of this is negotiating tactics as opposed to longer-term threats,” said Currie.
“I would like to say it adds certainty, (but) it doesn't seem to because we're still seeing now a pattern of very … challenging statements from time to time, just coming out with one view once and then changing his mind very quickly in the other direction.”
Still, Americans’ views of the economy improved in May, a shift from five straight months of declines that had sent consumer confidence to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, largely driven by anxiety over tariffs.
While Currie said the uptick would likely surprise many people, “there’s a sense that maybe things are improving.”
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose 12.3 points in May to 98, up from April’s 85.7, its lowest reading since May 2020.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.60 cents US compared with 72.83 cents US on Monday.
The July crude oil contract was down 64 cents US at US$60.89 per barrel and the July natural gas contract was up two cents US at US$3.74 per mmBTU.
The June gold contract was down US$65.40 at US$3,300.40 an ounce and the July copper contract was down 10 cents US at US$4.74 a pound.
—With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press
