TORONTO — Canada's main stock index pushed to another record close on Thursday, helped by a rise in the price of gold, while U.S. markets also closed higher after mixed trading earlier in the day.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 91.59 points at 26,615.75 in broad gains that included telecoms, financials and health care, while tech and base metal stocks were down.
The market has been on a fairly steady climb since early April when U.S. tariff plans rattled markets globally and helped send gold prices soaring, which in turn has helped the TSX, said John Zechner, chairman and lead equity manager at J. Zechner Associates.
"I think people lose sight of the fact how important the gold stocks are in our index now," he said, noting the sector makes up about 13 per cent of the index.
Other sectors like financials and energy haven't been performing that well but gold stocks have benefited from the price of the metal climbing from around US$2,600 an ounce at the start of the year to over US$3,300 in recent weeks.
"It's really those gold stocks that carry the day."
Gold rose again Thursday, with the August contract up US$58.70 at US$3,402.40 an ounce, a day after lower-than-expected inflation data out of the U.S. pushed down the U.S. dollar because there was less need for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.
"It's playing that correlation perfectly," said Zechner. "The trade-weighted U.S. dollar is getting hit hard today, and gold just, you know, surged on that again."
The rise helped push Barrick Mining Corp. up nearly three per cent, Lundin Gold Inc. up 6.4 per cent and Kinross Gold Corp. up 1.4 per cent. Equinox Gold was, however, down 5.7 per cent after raising its cost guidance and notifying of slower-than-planned production at its Greenstone gold mine in Ontario.
New York markets had been mixed earlier in the day but closed higher. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 101.85 points at 42,967.62. The S&P 500 index was up 23.02 points at 6,045.26, while the Nasdaq composite was up 46.61 points at 19,662.48.
Updates on trade talks, which have helped drive market sentiment in recent weeks, were more scant Thursday. Investors will be looking to the G7 meeting in Alberta early next week for any signs of progress, said Zechner.
"They're not doing a communique or anything like that, it's just, you know, how much will Trump stir up relative to the other guys, and what will come out of that."
The Canadian dollar also benefited from a weakening U.S. currency, trading for 73.46 cents US compared with 73.18 cents US on Wednesday.
The July crude oil contract was down 11 cents US at US$68.04 per barrel and the July natural gas contract was down two cents US at US$3.49 per mmBTU. The July copper contract was up three cents US at US$4.84 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press
