Rising gold prices helped push Canada’s main stock index more than 240 points higher, while U.S. markets also climbed.
Michael Currie, senior investment adviser at TD Wealth, said he is “optimistic” about the stock market as the end of the year approaches.
“The year, at least in Toronto, is ending the way it’s been going all year. Gold is stealing the spotlight, and silver is certainly not hurting, neither is copper,” Currie said.
“The mining sector is carrying the market this year, just astronomical numbers.”
The February gold contract was up US$82.10 at US$4,469.40 an ounce. Gold and silver touched records and oil prices jumped after the U.S. Coast Guard said it was pursuing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean.
The February crude oil contract was up US$1.49 at US$58.01 per barrel. Prices for Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 2.6% to US$62.07 a barrel.
Over the course of the year, Currie noted gold prices have risen nearly 70% and silver has gained about 128%.
“It’s a little bit unusual for gold to be doing so well in the year when the stock markets and the bond markets are actually doing really well too,” he said.
“Historically, they’re not opposites, but there wasn’t much of a correlation.”
Elsewhere on the TSX, Altius Minerals Corp. shares finished 1.76% lower after it signed a deal to buy Lithium Royalty Corp. in a stock-and-cash agreement valued at about $520 million.
Lithium Royalty shares gained 27.29% on the day.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 244.33 points at 32,000.10.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 227.79 points at 48,362.68. The S&P 500 index was up 43.99 points at 6,878.49, while the Nasdaq composite was up 121.21 points at 23,428.83.
U.S. stocks rose on Monday to open what’s expected to be a relatively calm holiday week.
The gains were broad. Technology companies and banks did much of the heavy lifting. Industrial companies also gave a strong push to major indexes.
Technology companies, especially those focused on AI, have been the main force behind the market’s oscillations.
Nvidia, which has had a big role in driving the broader tech sector higher this year, rose 1.5%. JPMorgan was among the bigger winners in the banking sector with a 1.9% gain.
Paramount Skydance rose 4.3%. The company sweetened its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with an “irrevocable personal guarantee” from Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison. He is putting up billions of dollars to back the deal as part of the latest move in Paramount’s bidding war against Netflix.
“Obviously, the big Paramount, Netflix, Warner Brothers deal is still top of everyone’s minds,” Currie said.
Warner Bros. Discovery shares rose 3.5% and Netflix fell 1.2%.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.74 cents US compared with 72.56 cents US on Friday.
— With files from The Associated Press