Canada’s S&P/TSX composite index closes at record high

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Canada’s stocks benchmark closed at a record on Thursday, a dramatic reversal for an index that entered a correction less than six weeks ago and seen as a major sentiment boost for investors.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 0.8% on Thursday, gaining for an eighth-straight session, to end the day at a record high 25,897.48 points. It’s the index’s first closing record since January, when US President Donald Trump was inaugurated and began to hit Canada with tariffs.

Nine out of 11 sectors gained in Toronto on Thursday, with industrials firms like AtkinsRealis Group Inc. and Stantec Inc. leading the charge.

The Canadian market surpassing its prior peak provides a psychological milestone for traders and is “a sign of resilience” according to Colin Cieszynski, portfolio manager and chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management. “The market has taken everything that could be thrown at it and it’s still showing strength and it still has breadth and that’s a really good thing,” he added.

The S&P/TSX has now climbed 4.7% so far in 2025 and outperformed US gauges, including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes, thanks in part to its higher weighting toward defensive sectors and its large concentration of gold stocks, which have enjoyed record bullion prices, according to Bloomberg Intelligence strategist Gillian Wolff.

“Canadian earnings growth is now expected to significantly outpace its US peers in 2025,” Wolff said, noting that the outlook for the US equity market has been downgraded more substantially than Canada’s since Trump implemented so-called reciprocal tariffs against trading partners on April 2.