TORONTO - Strength in the technology and materials sectors helped Canada’s main stock index finish more than 130 points higher on Wednesday, while U.S. stock markets were mixed amid seasonal headwinds.
“Equity markets are attempting to regain footing after what was a cautious start yesterday to September,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.
He noted that September is often an unpredictable month for stock markets.
“We are facing seasonal headwinds. After a strong rally in the summer, equities are entering this seasonally challenging period, where, in September and October, historically, those months have tended to bring more volatility,” Kourkafas said.
He noted that much of the gains were driven by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, which was one of the strongest forces lifting the market and climbed 9.14 per cent after avoiding some of the worst-case scenarios in its antitrust case.
A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday ordered a shakeup of Google’s search engine but did not force a sale of its Chrome browser.
“This allows the company to retain its Chrome business ... So that by itself, given the size and market capitalization of Alphabet, is driving a lot of the gains,” Kourkafas said.
He added the ruling indicates a potentially more favourable regulatory backdrop for the company.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 135.74 points at 28,751.36.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 24.58 points at 45,271.23. The S&P 500 index was up 32.72 points at 6,448.26, while the Nasdaq composite was up 218.10 points at 21,497.73.
Meanwhile, Canadian investors digested comments from Prime Minister Mark Carney on a recent call with U.S. President Trump regarding trade.
He said Canada is making progress on “small” tariff deals with the U.S. for key sectors.
Carney described it as a “good conversation,” but also warned there is no guarantee Ottawa will secure any of the deals under discussion as the Trump administration works to squeeze the Canadian economy to obtain trade concessions.
Kourkafas said he doesn’t think the market is reacting too much to trade-related headlines, given their volatile nature.
“As we have seen over the last couple of months, this market has been somewhat immune to the trade uncertainty, and I think the reason is because of how the narrative keeps changing and shifting while at the same time, fundamentals, corporate earnings continue to grow and support the economic cycle,” he said.
However, he noted it is positive that both nations are seemingly working toward a resolution.
“Hopefully, for Canada, looking to get some relief on these sector-specific tariffs because excluding those, we’re talking about Canada continuing to have one of the lowest tariff rates compared to other countries,” Kourkafas said.
Within the consumer staples sector on the TSX, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. shares finished 6.27 per cent higher after the company reported earnings after the bell on Tuesday.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.50 cents US compared with 72.52 cents US on Tuesday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.62 at US$63.97 per barrel. The December gold contract was up US$43.30 at US$3,635.50 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2025.
— With files from The Associated Press.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD, TSX: ATD)
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