(RTTNews) – Canadian stocks moved modestly higher on Monday as investors took to a “wait-and-see” approach as they awaited key meetings of the central banks both in the US and Canada on rate cut plans.
After opening just above the previous week’s close, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index gathered momentum to trade firmly positive throughout the day before finally settling at 29,431.02, up by 147.20 points (or 0.50%).
Six of the 11 sectors posted gains today with IT sector leading the pack.
Canada is facing the biggest trade war in its history after US President Donald Trump slapped the country with 35% tariffs on all Canadian exports to the US, causing the Canadian economy to falter.
However, on August 29, an appeals court in the US deemed Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” illegal and the shocked administration has challenged the verdict in the US Supreme Court, which is set to begin hearings in November.
As of now, the trade talks between Canada and the US are in a “pause” mode, complicating the situation more.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled a series of “nation-building projects” that will be sent for fast-track approval and energize the slackened economy by providing jobs to tens of thousands of Canadians.
The federal budget coming up later this autumn is reported to be focusing on austerity with Carney already asking his ministers to explore spending cuts across all departments.
Yesterday, Carney launched Build Canada Homes, a new federal agency that will build affordable housing at scale to fight homelessness for low-income households.
Data released by Statistics Canada today revealed that Canadian manufacturing sales surged by 2.5% to C$70.3 billion in July 2025 following a 0.3% increase in June.
The country’s wholesale sales climbed 1.2% month-on-month to C$86.0 billion in July, the biggest gain since January.
Canada shed 65,500 labor positions in August, and the unemployment rate rose to 7.1% last month, while economic growth slowed sharply over the summer, contracting by 1.6%.
The next inflation report is scheduled for Tuesday, a day before the central bank’s rate decision.
Traders feel that the Bank of Canada may be open to additional cuts if incoming data support a rate cut.
In the US, the much-awaited Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting is scheduled for tomorrow and the day after, at the end of which the central bank will reveal its policy on new and upcoming interest rates.
Major sectors that gained in today’s trading were IT (0.81%), Energy (0.76%), Consumer Discretionary (0.74%), and Financials (0.45%).
Among the individual stocks, Bitfarms Ltd (10.00%), Sangoma Technologies Corp (6.02%), Open Text Corp (5.00%), Parex Resources Inc (7.00%) and Aritzia Inc (3.51%) were the prominent gainers.
Major sectors that lost in today’s trading were Real Estate (0.29%), Healthcare (0.41%), Communication Services (0.81%), and Consumer Staples (1.47%).
Among the individual stocks, Loblaw Co (2.23%), BCE Inc (1.13%), Bausch Health Companies Inc (1.69%), and Choice Properties REIT (1.57%) were the notable losers.
Energy Fuels Inc (14.75%), Orla Mining Ltd (10.14%), and Nexgen Energy Ltd (10.06%) were among the prime market-moving stocks today.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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