Canada’s main stock index advanced on Tuesday as declining oil prices and lower global bond yields improved investor sentiment, although weakness in metal prices limited broader gains. Meanwhile, the separatist Parti Québécois secured a narrow victory in Québéc’s election on Monday. This result could complicate Prime Minister Mark Carney’s efforts to preserve national cohesion amid ongoing trade tensions with the United States. On the economic front, Canadian merchandise exports increased 2.5% in August while imports fell 2.0%, widening the country’s trade surplus from $787 million in July to $4.2 billion. The latest reading marked Canada’s sixth straight monthly trade surplus.
A sharp sell-off in US Treasuries is pushing corporate borrowing costs higher, with lower-rated companies facing the greatest pressure as investors demand increased yields. Rising sovereign debt costs are spilling into credit markets and could tighten financial conditions even without further Federal Reserve action, potentially slowing refinancing, leveraged buyouts, and business investment while increasing strain on heavily indebted firms. At the same time, Wall Street banks are assembling a record $60 billion financing package tied to Broadcom and Anthropic, underscoring the massive amounts of capital being directed toward AI infrastructure. The deal represents another step in the expansion of the AI investment boom into traditional credit markets, increasing the financial system’s dependence on expectations for sustained demand in chips and computing power while raising risks if anticipated AI-related revenues fall short.
| TSX | 35,649.51 | +130.96 |  |
| TSXV | 890.12 | +11.54 | |
| CSE | 152.18 | -2.92 |  |
| DJIA | 51,521.28 | +253.38 | |
| NASDAQ | 27,599.79 | +122.48 | |
| S&P 500 | 7,818.93 | +44.98 | |
The Canadian dollar traded for 70.36 cents US compared to 70.11 cents US on Monday.
US crude futures traded $0.23 higher at US$89.66 a barrel, and the Brent contract rose $0.53 to US$100.80 a barrel.
The price of gold was up US$47.01 to US$4,176.29.
In world markets, the Nikkei was up 737.12 points to ¥70,683.98, the Hang Seng was up 240.22 points to HK$24,280.56, the FTSE was up 47.31 points to ₤10,545.25, and the DAX was up 194.98 points to €25,449.19.
