Canadian Stocks Soar As Signs Of U.S. Shutdown Ending Emerge

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks surged on Monday as expectations that the U.S shutdown will end soon increased, as several Democrats joined with Senate Republicans to advance a bill to fund the government, a move that boosted market sentiment.

After opening well above last week's close, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index traded firmly positive throughout the session before finally closing at 30,316.63, up by 404.44 points (or 1.35%).

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

In the U.S., the government shutdown entered day number 41 today.

In a rare Sunday session, a group of Senate leaders negotiated a deal wherein eight Democrats joined with Republicans to advance a short-term funding bill with a wafer-thin margin to reopen the government.

Speaker Mike Johnson thanked the eight Democrat Senators who voted for the legislation.

For the Democrats, though the deal does not guarantee an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, it assures a vote on the subsidies, which are soon to expire.

A possible end to the historically long U.S. government shutdown lifted global market sentiment, with a rally in the U.S. markets leading to a bull run in Canadian stocks too.

Last Tuesday, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney introduced his maiden budget with plans to enable $1 trillion in total investments over the next five years in Canada.

While unveiling the budget, finance minister Francois-Philippe Champagne acknowledged that a protracted trade war with the U.S. is weakening the economy, forcing the government to run a deficit tens of billions larger than previous forecasts.

Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump halted all trade talks with Canada, angered by an advertisement from Canada that apparently mocked Trump's tariffs.

Last Friday, while addressing a business audience in Toronto, Carney stated that the negotiations would resume without giving much details about when and where.

Late last month, the Bank of Canada cut its benchmark rate by a quarter point to 2.25%.

Based on last Friday's surprisingly strong employment data, expectations of another BoC rate cut have now diminished considerably.

On the economic front in Canada, the day was largely uneventful except for the Bank of Canada Market Participants Survey which revealed that the participants believed that the central bank's main interest rate (now at 2.25%) will remain at that level until mid-2027. They also believed that BoC will raise rates starting third quarter of 2027 to 2.5%.

On the business front, gold and copper mining company, Barrick Mining, came out with quarterly earnings of $0.58 per share with revenues at $4.15 billion for the quarter ending September 2025 and net earnings of $1.3 billion. The company raised its base dividend 25% to $0.125 and expanded its buyback by $500 million after record third-quarter cash flow

Third quarter revenue for Constellation Software rose by 16% to C$2.95 billion, driven by acquisitions and 5% organic growth; year-to-date revenue up 15% to C$8.45 billion. Net income for the third quarter was C$210 million. The company declared a quarterly dividend of C$1.00 per share.

Major sectors that gained in today's trading were Materials (3.80%), IT (2.17%), Energy (1.53%), Healthcare (1.47%), and Consumer Discretionary (0.76%).

Among the individual stocks, Discovery Silver Corp (14.08%), Aris Gold Corporation (9.33%), Endeavour Silver Corp (9.30%), Orla Mining Ltd (7.60%), Curaleaf Holdings Inc (11.29%), Celestica Inc Sv (6.95%), and Shopify Inc (3.95%) were the prominent gainers.

Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Real Estate (0.03%) and Industrials (0.18%).

Among the individual stocks, CDN Apartments Un (1.37%), Primaris REIT (1.30%), Killam Apartment REIT (1.02%), Bird Construction Inc (4.89%), Exchange Income Corp (3.20%), and Atkinsrealis Group Inc (2.68%) were the notable losers.