Canadian Stocks Soar Amid Record-High Precious Metal Prices

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks surged on Tuesday, rebounding from Friday's losses, as gold scales a new peak and in the process lifted many of the mining stocks in Canada's materials sector, while markets assimilated the renewed China-U.S. trade tensions.

Of note, the Canadian markets were closed yesterday on account of Thanksgiving Day.

After opening just above the previous week's close, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index gained momentum from the start of the session and traded firmly positive to finally settle at 30,353.61, up by 502.72 points (or 1.68%).

Nine of the 11 sectors posted gains today with Materials sector leading the pack.

Gold and silver, both of which have been up for three consecutive sessions, posted record highs today.

Comex Gold for October delivery climbed to $4,138.70 per troy ounce and Comex Silver for October delivery rose to $50.314 per troy ounce.

The increase in precious metals' prices lifted Canadian mining stocks, which in turn pushed the market higher.

Meanwhile, the trade relations between China and the U.S. took a turn last week.

After learning about the measures by China to curb rare earth minerals exports, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose another 100% tariff on Chinese goods on top of the existing levies. The new duties are set to take effect from November 1.

Trump also expressed disinterest in meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in an upcoming summit in South Korea.

Both sides have now tightened their grip on each other's shipping vessels by imposing special port charges.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the world's leading major economies and largest consumers, initially overflowed to other markets.

Yesterday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that Trump remains on track to meet the Chinese premier at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, hosted by South Korea in late October. This news halted the sell-off.

Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. Despite high expectations, no announcement on tariff reductions or abolition came after the meeting.

The re-negotiation of the Free-Trade Agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico is also lying in waiting.

Markets are placing their bets on the ongoing high-level negotiations as both sides stand to benefit from a smoother bilateral trade.

In the U.S., the government shutdown has entered day number fourteen.

Yesterday, Scott Bessent acknowledged that the shutdown is starting to affect the real U.S. economy and people's lives.

Markets anticipate a 25-basis-point rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve later this month.

In Canada, the Bank of Canada cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.5% in September as largely expected by markets.

On Friday, data released by Statistics Canada revealed that Canada's unemployment rate held steady at 7.1% in September, below market expectations of 7.2%. It also showed that Canada's employment rose by 60,400, a 0.3% increase in September following a 65,500 decline in the prior month, and well above market estimates of a 5,000 increase.

These figures dampened the expectations of a rate cut by the Canadian central bank.

In the budget to be tabled on November 4, Carney is planning to implement a slew of measures that will lower costs and protect essential programs that empower Canadians.

Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Materials (3.19%), Healthcare (2.07%), Consumer Discretionary (2.06%), IT (1.96%) and Financials (1.84%).

Among the individual stocks, Orla Mining Ltd (19.58%), Endeavour Silver Corp (13.99%), Ero Copper Corp (10.60%), Iamgold Corp (7.66%), Bitfarms Ltd (40.96%), and Curaleaf Holdings Inc (5.67%) were the prominent gainers.

Energy (0.28%) and Communication Services (0.57%) were the only two sectors that lost in today's trading.

Among the individual stocks, Kelt Exploration Ltd (2.01%), Arc Resources Ltd (1.50%), Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (1.21%), BCE Inc (2.12%), and Telus Corp (0.42%) were the notable losers.