Stock markets in Canada and the U.S. rose as investors sifted through the latest data from the world’s largest economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 58.63 points at 32,058.73.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 79.73 points at 48,442.41. The S&P 500 index gained 31.30 points at 6,909.79, while the Nasdaq composite rose 133.01 points at 23,561.84. The S&P 500 surpassed the record set earlier in December.
Brent Joyce, chief investment strategist at BMO Private Wealth, said it appears markets are seeing a Santa Claus rally heading into the end of the year.
“It is an odd phenomenon that we get leading into the last few days, heading into the holidays that markets are solid. Thankfully, I would say this year there’s good reason for it, given the data that’s come out as of late and certainly the consensus view into 2026,” he said.
Stocks closed at another record on Wall Street on Tuesday following a surprisingly strong report on economic growth over the summer.
The U.S. economy grew at a 4.3% annual rate during the third quarter. That builds on 3.8% growth during the second quarter and marks a sharp turnaround from the first quarter, when the U.S. economy shrank for the first time in three years.
“Markets are celebrating that the largest economy on the planet continues to be sending the right signals,” Joyce said.
He said the U.S. gross domestic product figures were “shockingly good,” with the expectation being that the U.S. economy had been slowing.
“The strength certainly is more than what you would expect, even carving out the government shutdown and some of the data fog that we’ve had over the past number of weeks,” he said.
The latest record for the S&P 500 came even as most stocks within the benchmark index lost ground. Technology stocks, which have been the main force pushing major indexes to records all year, once again were able to counter weakness elsewhere in the market.
Nvidia jumped 3% and was the biggest force helping to push the market higher. It is among several big tech companies with outsized valuations that tend to have more impact on the broader market’s direction. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, rose 1.5%.
Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reported that the domestic economy slowed in October amid a pullback in the manufacturing sector, with real gross domestic product contracting 0.3% in the month.
“We were expecting some giveback from the surprisingly strong print in the previous quarter, so that wasn’t too surprising. You’ve got to look at them in their entirety. The tariff uncertainty has certainly had businesses on and off again, so there’s some disruption in the data there,” Joyce said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.97 cents US, compared with 72.74 cents on Monday.
The February crude oil contract was up 37 cents US at US$58.38 per barrel. The February gold contract was up US$36.30 at US$4,505.70 an ounce.
— With files from The Associated Press